Double RKO II: Burn In Our Light
by SuspiciousInitials
Summary: Randy and I finally had the World Tag Team Championships around our waists. Nothing could have been better, at least in my mind. Randy, on the other hand, had something else in mind. Starts immediately after SummerSlam 2003.
1. Brothers

_Disclaimer: Only my original characters (Matthew and Camilla Orton, Eric Barringer) are my property. All other characters and other media are property of their respective owners. I'm just writing as a hobby, and not to make money.  
_

* * *

"Hurry up, Adam! If we wait any longer, we're not going to be first in line!"

"Will you calm down, Mark!? It's not going to be a big deal if we're not first in line! We have front row seats anyway and that's not going to change. Jeez, you're acting like we're twelve years old again."

"How can you _not?!_ We've saved up this whole year for front row tickets for an event, finally bought them when it was announced on TV a couple of months ago, and its less than five hours until the doors open!"

Adam looked over at his 20-year-old younger brother, but nevertheless smirked at his energy. It was true; 21-year-old Adam was pretty excited for what was about to occur later on that afternoon, but Adam always managed to contain his emotion in direct contrast to Mark, who always jumped up and down like a little child whenever something highly anticipated was about to happen. Looking down at his watch, it was 1:00 PM; the doors opened at 6:30, but Mark wanted to stand in line for an ungodly amount of time in the hot sun just for the opportunity to be the first to step into the arena.

"If we get there early enough, we can stand in the shade, you idiot! Now grab the belts and let's go!"

Adam remembered what Mark was talking about and opened the closet to look for them. A small glare caught his eye, and Adam pulled out the replica World Tag Team Championship belts he bought over a year ago. Throwing one over his shoulder and throwing one over to his brother, Adam strolled quietly towards the car while Mark was bounding down the stairs and out the door, the tickets waving frantically in his hands.

"You know", Adam said as he finally walked out the door, "if you were just a tad bit smaller, the government could use you in a hamster wheel and solve this country's energy crisis."

Mark looked confused as Adam unlocked the doors to the car. As they both entered, Mark squinted his eyes at his brother. "What do you mean?", he asked tentatively.

Adam shot Mark an evil glare before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. "You're such a friggin' idiot, you know that?"

"What?! What did I do?"

Adam rolled his eyes and sped off towards the Tucson Convention Center, located on the other side of town. As Mark babbled about who he was excited to see on the way there, Adam remembered what it meant to him to be driving to this event with his brother. Even though Mark was a complete and total idiot and got the pair into trouble more often than not, Adam always treasured every single moment that they shared together. Four years ago, Adam and Mark were in the family car driving home from church on a Sunday morning with their mother and father. The family had proposed a day of relaxation and fun, which included an Italian lunch, a movie, and a night in the family swimming pool back at home.

Except it never came to that.

Mark never fully remembered what happened that day due to injury. Adam, however, remembered _everything_. And it was painful every time those memories came back.

_"I saw the truck coming ... but ... but I was too frozen to do anything. Dad had his head turned towards Mom because they were in the middle of a conversation. Mark was too busy reading his Harry Potter book. I didn't yell anything ... and then it happened. I remember the car flipping, glass breaking, blood flying everywhere ..."_

"Adam? You okay, man?"

Shaking the horrific picture out of his mind, Adam turned towards his brother and briefly nodded before turning back to the road. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of what happened those years ago.

"Yeah ... I'm fine. I'm ... I'm just thinking of how _awesome _the next six hours are going to be."

"What? I thought you didn't want to stand outside the front door for four hours before the show starts? What made you change your mind?"

"Spending time with you in front of the line with these belts holding them up high", Adam said, patting the belt around his waist, "then holding them up on live television ..."

"That's right!", Mark said, eyeing the tickets in his hands. "We sit right in front of the camera! We should have brought signs!"

"We don't need signs when we have these. Besides, we have to show up the Ortons when they come out!"

Just a few minutes later, Adam and Mark pulled into the parking lot of the Tucson Convention Center and looked up to the electronic marquee which read ...

_**"**__**WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW -- SOLD OUT!"**_

* * *

8:00 AM in the morning. Lilian Garcia looked over at her sleeping husband-to-be and thought about waking him up, knowing that David Batista would be stomping down the hall, looking to wake up everyone and take them down to the hotel's fitness room.

_"Eh ... let him sleep"_, Lilian thought to herself. _"After what he went through last night, he deserves a couple extra ..."_

"**ORTON!**", came a booming voice along with a strong trio of knocks at the door. "**On your feet in 15 minutes, son! We've got work to do!**"

Lilian jumped at hearing the ruckus at the door, yelping a little bit, feeling her heart nearly explode in her chest. After hearing Batista walk off down the hall, Lilian looked behind her to see Randy still snoring like a bear hibernating for the winter.

_"Jeez, he's a heavy sleeper. I better wake him up before Dave comes back and breaks the damn door down..."_

While trying to gently nudge Randy awake, Lilian heard another set of three knocks from the adjacent room. She giggled a bit when Camilla was heard yelping just as loud as she did from Batista's morning welcome. Just a few seconds later, a loud thud came from the next room, along with what sounded like Matt whining.

"You might as well push him off too, Lil!", Camilla yelled through the wall. "It's what I have to do every damn morning!"

Lilian snickered and pushed as hard she could, finally getting Randy's snoozing body to flop hard down on the floor. The surprised man bolted to his feet, his eyes wide open darting around the room until they finally settled on his fiancée.

"Oh ... its just you", Randy said, catching his breath. "That's something Matt used to do to me all the time before you and I met."

"If you don't start waking up whenever Dave comes and bangs on the door like he's going to break it down, I'm going to have to start pushing you off the bed every single morning! Not even alarm clocks can wake you up! Now throw something on and get yourself ready. Dave wants you down there in about 15 minutes."

Randy groaned at hearing that, but knew that it was almost an everyday occurrence. Glancing at the clock, he was actually grateful for Dave waiting this long; Batista normally woke the guys up at 6:00 AM for the morning workout. Sighing, Randy quickly threw on a muscle shirt and a pair of shorts before hearing another knock at the door. After Randy opened the door, he started to laugh; John, Eric, and Matt were all standing behind it, looking just as disheveled as he was.

"Can we ask Dave to let our alarm clocks wake us up instead of breaking our damn doors down? Jeez ...", Eric whined, still rubbing the sleep out of the corner of his eyes. Eric was still clad in green shorts and a shirt, John had a Phoenix Suns jersey on, and Matt ... well ...

"Did you even bother to get dressed?", Randy said after realizing his brother was still just in boxerbriefs. Matt, through narrowed and tired eyes, looked down at himself, then back up at Randy.

"I don't like you right now", Matt said, hating the prospect of walking the 15 feet back to his room. "Just give me a pair of your shorts and I'll be fine."

"Only ...", Randy said with a grin, getting a mischievous idea. "... only if you wash the car when we get home. Lil's been bugging me to do it and I haven't had the time."

Matt's already narrowed eyes narrowed even more, glaring at his brother. "I _really_ don't like you now. Give me the damn shorts."

Randy snickered and dug around in his suitcase for a few seconds before shoving a pair of shorts in Matt's chest. After the younger Orton put them on and after Randy gave a little goodbye kiss to Lilian, the four men sluggishly made their way to the elevator.

"What do you think Dave's gonna make us do?", John asked. "We're all still pretty damn sore from last night. I mean ... he can't expect us to push ourselves just as hard as usual, right?"

Eric glared over at the man who defeated him the previous night. "We're talking about Dave here. Do you _really_ expect for him to take it easy on us?"

"This morning ... yeah, I actually do", replied John in a half-bitter tone. "We went through hell last night. You and me nearly tore each other apart with every submission hold in the book, Randy and Matt are probably still broken and bruised from the TLC match, and even Dave has to be sore from his match with the Undertaker!"

"Maybe we're just overlooking something", Randy interrupted. "Maybe Dave has a soft side after all."

"Dave? A soft side?", Matt said. "This is the man that likes to Batista Bomb me _for fun_. I **doubt **that he has a soft side."

At that moment, the elevator door opened and all four men stepped out and started to trudge over to the fitness room at a zombie-like speed.

"**Ahem**..."

That loud, resonating voice coming from behind them could only be one man. Randy, Matt, John, and Eric turned around to see Dave smirking at them, chewing a piece of gum.

"Care to dress much, guys? You look like you just woke up."

Not amused, the younger men all rolled their eyes as Dave actually started to laugh.

"Eh, just be glad I'm not driving all of you into the ground right now. Grab a seat and get to eating. I've got the whole buffet place only for us for about an hour and we all need to recover from what happened last night."

"Wait ... so we're _not_ working out?", said Randy with a little hesitation in his voice.

"Nah ... not today. Consider it a gift. Besides, John ... if you're gonna defend that title against me in a month, you're gonna need all the energy you can get."

"Oh god", Eric whined. "Here we go." Cena's eyes narrowed at Batista and he grabbed a nearby plate, stacking everything from waffles and pancakes to hash browns and eggs almost a foot high. Dave chuckled and did the exact same thing, sitting across from his Unforgiven opponent.

"An eating contest?!", came a trio of familiar voices from the entrance to the hotel's restaurant. Lilian, Camilla, and Amy all entered the room, grabbing a plate and entering the buffet line next to their significant others.

"Can you guys stop acting like kids for _just _a couple of days?", Lilian said to Randy. "I would expect John to do something like this, but Dave? I think you four have rubbed off on him too much."

"Ah, leave him alone", Matt commented as he watched John and Dave stuff their faces full of bacon and pancakes, "Batista's just making himself fit in. Hell, we're practically his second family."

"Then as the 'father' of this family", Camilla sniped, "shouldn't he be the most mature of the bunch?"

Amy snickered as she finished a forkful of scrambled eggs. "Mature? Honey, us girls are the most mature ones here. Makes me worry about what kind of kids this family will produce."

Eric, Randy, and Matt all dropped their utensils at once, nearly spitting what food they had in their mouths out on the table.

"_Kids?!_", Eric nervously muttered. "Amy, you're not serious, right? I mean, we haven't been engaged long at all and you're already talking about kids!"

"Calm down there, green mustang!", Amy retorted. "It's just an assumption for now. I mean, we've got three budding couples either married or soon to be wed, all obviously in love. Isn't it safe to say we'll have either a little Orton or a little Barringer running around the house sometime in the future?"

Amy, Lilian, and Camilla all looked at each other with slight grins on their faces while Matt leaned over to his best friend.

"Green mustang?", Matt whispered to Eric. "What the hell kind of nickname is that?"

Eric chuckled a bit, then went so far as to even blush. "Its ... its just a nickname she gave me from ... um ..."

"Ohhhhhh ...", Randy said loudly, apparently realizing what Eric was coming from. "She thinks you're great in the sack!"

Amy burst out laughing, bits and pieces of egg and pancake flying across the table. Eric flashed a glare and balled a fist at the older Orton, who was also letting go of a bevy of laughter. Matt, Lilian, and Camilla were also having trouble containing some chuckles, while John and Dave were still stuffing their mouths with various breakfast items. Matt waited until Eric calmed down before he closed his mind off to him and started a conversation with his brother.

_"What do you think will happen tonight?"_, Matt thought to Randy, examining a small bruise of his own on his chest, wincing as he touched it. _"Think we'll have to defend on the first night? I can't stop thinking about it."_

_"You need to stop worrying so much!"_, Randy replied. _"If you go around to anticipate everything, you'll die a young man. Just lighten up and enjoy the moment! We're on top of the freaking world right now and all you can do is look back down. Keep looking up."_

Matt chuckled, seemingly out of nowhere. Eric looked over at him and instantly knew that the two brothers were talking, but decided to stay out of it, electing to continue a conversation with Amy.

_"Sorry. I'm still shaking off the way I was brought up. I was taught to be prepared for anything and everything that could come at you. Dad wouldn't let me go out with my friends before quizzing me on every little thing that could possibly happen to me."_

_"Did anything ever happen? Did you ever use anything that your dad quizzed you over?"_

_"Nope. Not a single time."_

_"Listen, I'd not going to advocate just going around living your life recklessly. I've done that before in high school and I paid the price. Don't ask, because I'm never going to tell you. Anyway, just learn to lighten up and take life one day at a time."_

The sound of forks and knives dropping on empty plates caught not only the brothers' attention, but also the attention of everyone else at the table. All eyes shifted to Cena and Batista, who had apparently finished their eating contest at the same time, their stomachs bloated to the size of hot air balloons.

"Come on", Randy said out loud. "Let's get out of here before these two decide to upchuck their breakfast back on their plates."

Almost in unison, everyone but the two contestants got up and exited the hotel's restaurant, the men to go back upstairs and get properly dressed for the day, and the women to start preparing to depart from the hotel. As everyone left, John and Dave kept their gazes on each other until...

"_**BURRRRRRRRRRP!**_"

The sound seemed to shake the walls, as a few of the hotel's workers actually peeked around corners to see what was going on. John couldn't maintain the seriousness any longer and burst out laughing, the laughter overpowering any pain from his full stomach. Dave eventually broke his silence and started to chuckle himself, showing a rare sight that not many get to see.

"You ready to get the hell out of here?", Dave asked with a grin on his face.

"Hell yes, bro. Let's get movin'!"

* * *

In the locker room later on that evening, Randy and Matt shifted their World Tag Team Championships onto their shoulders clad in their matching gold ring gear. The first match of the night would be the result of a promise Matt had made previously: one half of the new World Tag Team Champions against the new World Heavyweight Champion. Cena was adamant about getting a rematch from his first bout with Orton on SmackDown, and with the big gold belt on his shoulder, John was more confident than ever.

"Just think", Matt said, "If I were to beat John tonight, I might be considered as a contender for the World Championship."

"If _you're_ up for that belt before I am, I'll kill myself."

"Why? Just because I'll be better than you then?"

"So ... you admit that I'm better than you _now_!?"

Matt rolled his eyes and walked away, knowing that Randy would torment him for hours on end for walking right into that one.

"And they say _you're_ the smart one. Ha!"

Matt sneered, turned around, and threw his belt to the ground, focusing his eyes on his taller adversary. Randy grinned and did likewise, depositing both the tag and the Intercontinental  
titles on the bench beside him. Matt balled his fists and slowly walked with purpose towards his brother, only for ...

"**OW!** What did you do that for!?"

Camilla had stepped in front of her husband and stomped her foot directly on top of Matt's. Randy had a hardy laugh seeing his little brother hop around on one leg grabbing his toe. Matt plopped himself down on a chair and looked bewildered up towards his wife.

"Oh, come on! You can't let us have a little fun before the night starts? We haven't done something like this in a couple of days!"

"Make that a couple of hours", Camilla replied dryly. "I saw you two earlier pushing each other around when we got out of the van after we got to the arena. Don't think I don't pay attention."

"That doesn't count! I mean ... we were just ... Randy and I ..."

Matt looked over to his brother for some support, but Randy just looked away in the other direction, leaving Matt to tackle the situation by himself.

"Okay ... fine", Matt said dejectedly. "We won't fight each other for the rest of the day." Matt picked up all three belts on the ground and handed them back to their respective owners. Sitting down next to Camilla, Matt slugged his belt over his shoulder and sighed loudly.

"If ... and I mean _if_ ... you can make it till next week, I'll make it worth your while."

"But I make it worth your while every night!"

"Not _that _way! I'll make you your favorite desserts: pumpkin pie and s'mores!"

The younger Orton's eyes immediately lit up and Matt stopped all movement right then and there. He properly put on his belt, wiped the smirk on his face, and marched out of the room purposely, presumably heading towards the ring.

"You're not actually going to make that for him, are you?", Randy asked, getting up to get ready to follow Matt. "I mean, the last thing we need is him bouncing off the walls next Monday."

"Of course I'm not!", answered Camilla hastily. "I'm just doing this to calm him down! You ought to calm down too, you ought to know better! You're damn lucky Lilian isn't back here to smack you one!"

Randy let out a breath, knowing that Lilian would exactly as Camilla described. Taking a few quick steps to make sure that Camilla herself didn't smack him, Randy sidestepped out the door and quickly caught up to his brother.

"Maybe we _should_ calm down", Randy said outloud. "Sometime or another, we're going to have to start taking this sport seriously."

"When one of us is in the running for the big gold belt, we'll start being serious. As for now ... er ... after a week, to be exact ... we'll act however the hell we want ..."

Randy stopped abruptly in front of his brother and turned to face him. Looking down at Matt's face with a glare, Randy said ...

"Look. I'm starting to think we need to start acting like we care right now. I don't know about you, but sometime in the future, I want to have the belt that John holds right now. That's what I wanted from the beginning, from even before I met you. I went through a couple of years in developmental wrestling with my eye already on that big prize. Someday I _will_ hold that belt. Someday _you_ will hold that belt. But if we don't put our best feet forward, Austin's going to treat us like we're just a pair of little kids, keeping us in the midcard and in the tag division. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be Intercontinental champion. I'm **damn** proud to be a World Tag Team Champion. I'm going to hold onto these things for as long as I possibly can. But when the time is right, Matt, I'm going after the World title. And you should have the exact ... same ... mindset."

Matt stared back up in his brother's piercing eyes, his own wide open in surprise and awe. Randy's face was only millimeters away from his own, somewhat scaring the younger of the two.

"Yeah ... um, sure. I'm ... I'm sorry. I just ... I just still want to goof off with you sometimes and I ... and I ..."

"I didn't mean to scare you. At home, we can goof off all we want. Here, we're two professional wrestlers trying to move themselves up to win the biggest prize on this brand. Get it?"

"Got it."

"Then get out there and beat Cena's ass like you did when you debuted."

Matt smiled and started again towards the curtain. Randy even smirked as he saw walked beside his brother, proud to see that he finally shaped up somewhat. Once at the curtain, the brothers paused briefly to let the opening fireworks take place. After taking their fingers out of their ears, Randy and Matt were glad to hear the arena full of pumped up fans.

"Ready to show them one to remember?", Randy asked eagerly.

"When am I not?"

And then, the bell rang.

"Ladies and gentlemen", Lilian announced, "this opening contest is scheduled for one fall!"

'Burn in My Light' started to play and Matt stepped onto the stage first, followed by his brother.

"Introducing first, accompanied to the ring by his brother, Randy, from San Antonio, Texas, weighing in at 219 pounds ..."

"_I lost 20 pounds?_", Matt thought to himself.

... he is one-half of the **new** World Tag Team Champions, Matthew Orton!"

The golden pyro illuminated the two brothers as they Orton posed in front of it to hundreds upon hundreds of cheering fans in the arena. After a few seconds in the gold light, both Randy and Matt strode on down to the ring and posed once more on the turnbuckle just as they did the night previously. The two noticed two young teenagers with replica World Tag Team Championship belts down in the front row.

"Look", Randy chuckled. "We have imitators."

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

"Shut the hell up with your smart talk and just wrestle the match", Randy said after punching Matt in the shoulder.

"Stop that! Camilla won't fix ..."

"She only said that to get you to calm down, numbnuts. Just focus."

Albeit disappointed, Matt handed his belt to Randy, who promptly hopped out of the ring and sat down next to where Lilian would sit. The Orton in the ring turned towards the stage and anticipated hearing 'Basic Thuganomics'.

But that wasn't what came out of the arena's speakers. A new theme song along with a new Titantron, surprised everyone, and John Cena came out holding the World Heavyweight Championship high.

"And from West Newbury, Massachusetts, weighing in at 245 pounds, he is the **new** World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena!"

The new champ sprinted down the ramp, slid head first into the ring, and pumped the big gold belt up in the air proudly. It seemed as if half the crowd was in favor of John and the other half booing, still hesitant to support the new champ after what he had done to the Orton family previously. After John handed his belt down to ringside, Matt immediately got into his face.

"You just can't wait to get in my face, can you?"

"Only to let you know that you'll suffer the same fate you did last time."

"Bring it, little man."

The ref separated the two men to their separate corners and ordered the bell to be rung.

* * *

_I'm back! After a little break and thinking, I'm ready to roll! Will the little rivalry between John and Dave continue to be just a little rivalry? Or will it evolve into something more? Did Amy mean anything more when she said that kids would eventually be running around the house? Or was it just playful banter? Can Matt maintain this seriousness that Randy helped create? And will the first match of the night go off without a hitch? Who will win?_

_Whew. Done with that one. Hope you enjoyed it!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	2. Confession

_Alright ... now that I have some sort of reprieve from college, I can work on this!_

_John Cena and Matthew Orton will battle in the ring, using every trick in their books along with every drop of adrenaline in their bodies to come up with a win. Afterwards, Jeff Hardy will come out to face the music and to explain himself to the crowd. _

_Here we go!_

* * *

John and Matthew stared each other down in the middle of the ring just as they did on Smackdown a little over a year ago. In that short of a time, they had held the World Tag Team Championships together, considered each other best friends _and_ worst enemies, and climbed to the top of their respective divisions.

Now it was as if all that had never happened.

Cena smirked and instantly waved his hand in front of his face. You could hear part of the crowd yelling "You can't see me!". Matt looked around and rolled his eyes, then responded with a taunt of his own: the Orton pose. The other half of the crowd started cheering, including Randy, who pounded his palms on the mat in support of his brother. John chuckled and stepped backwards; Matt braced himself, ready for an attack, only to see John offer his hand up in a test of strength. Without hesitation, Matt reached up and accepted, and the two men locked up, each using every muscle fiber in their bodies to try to force their opponent to the ground.

Matt now began to realize that this might have been a bad idea. John was quickly winning the battle, with Matt's back getting more and more parallel to the ground. Even though he was retaliating with every drop of strength in his body, Orton knew that he was very, very close to losing.

_"What the hell was I thinking!?"_, Matt thought frantically. _"John's fundamentally stronger than me in every way! He can bench more than me, he can squat more than me, he can deadlift more than me..."_

_"Stop thinking about that and try something else!"_

Randy's advice echoed throughout Matt's mind and the younger Orton decided to fight back in a different manner. Thinking on his feet ... or rather, _off_ his feet ... Matt used John's own momentum against him and slid himself under John. Cena was forced to let go and spun around, only to see Matt already on his feet. Orton planted a strong boot in Cena's stomach and put the World champ in position for the MKO. After signaling for his finishing maneuver, Matt lifted John up in the air as quickly as he could. However, Cena knew better and swung his whole body over Orton's shoulder, landing on his feet. A disappointed Randy watched his little brother get spun around and lifted onto John's shoulders.

Randy's frustrated frown turned into a grin of hope as he saw Matt start to repeatedly slam his elbow into the side of John's head. Randy slammed his palms on the mat rhythmically to try to get the crowd on Matt's side as John started to lose his balance. John's grip finally loosened and Matt managed to slip off of John's shoulders. Ringside, Randy smiled proudly as he realized his brother's plan; Matt spun a groggy John around and started the motion for an RKO. John was smart enough to catch on quickly, however, and pushed his opponent forcefully to the ropes. Matt bounced back and ran eagerly at John, ready to clothesline him down to the canvas.

The World champ turned the tables once more and caught Matt unexpectedly with a drop toe hold. Matt immediately knew what was coming when he felt John lift his right leg. Orton immediately started to scramble for the nearest bottom rope, but didn't get very far as Cena wrapped his arm around Orton's chin and pulled back, locking in the STFU. From ringside, Randy threw his arms up the air repeatedly, yet again trying to turn the crowd in favor of his little brother. The live audience soon showed their spirit; half seemed to support John Cena with the other half yelling incessantly at the younger Orton to either break free or reach the ropes. Feeling like his neck could snap backwards at any moment, Matt reached as far as he could towards the ropes in front of him. The pain was searing through every nerve in his upper body as Matt could begin to scrape the very tip of the ropes with his fingernails. John saw how close Matt was to the ropes and reared back even more with an added boost of adrenaline.

_"I can't ... I can't do it ... my neck is going to snap!"_

_"You've gotten through worse before! Just keep ..."_

But Cena let go. Frustrated, yet amazed on how long Matt held on, John went to the other side of the ring and stood, ready to attempt another FU. Randy breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew that Matt couldn't last past this. John saw Randy slamming his hands down on the mat again to motivate Matt, but John saw someone coming up behind Randy. Cena saw a steel chair being raised in the air and rushed out of the ring to try to stop it, but it was too late.

_**SMACK!**_

The sound of steel against flesh rang out in the arena, Randy collapsed to the floor, and a smirking Chris Jericho readied the chair again to swing at John. Cena stopped for a split second to think of an attack plan, but took a split second too long. Someone _else_ with a steel chair had managed to pop out of the crowd and slammed the weapon against the back of John's head. Another smirking face appeared once the chair was lowered, and Christian's annoying cocky grimace looked down at the fallen champion. Jericho motioned up to the ring, where a groggy Matthew was still getting to his feet. Orton was unaware of what was going on because of the severity of the pain; Matt looked down to ringside to see John and Randy unconscious and had no idea what had just happened. Matt stumbled back a bit, still disoriented from the effects of John's STFU. Out of the corner of his eye, Orton saw something get raised into the air and he turned to face it.

**_SMACK!_**

Matt felt immense pain from both his forehead and the back of his head, but only for a fleeting moment. The whole arena went black and Orton crumbled to the canvas. Chris Jericho gloated in the moment; he and Christian had just Conchairto'd Matthew Orton. From ringside, Lilian watched as Christian slipped out of the ring and grabbed the World Tag Team and Intercontinental Championships. Jericho grabbed one of the tag and the IC belt, dropped the chair, and held the straps high in the air.

* * *

Three large ice bags sat on top of the heads of three miserable, moaning men. Randy, John, and Matt were each sitting up against the cold, brick wall of the locker room, not quite sure what to make of the situation.

"They weren't ... there to ... get you, John", Randy said between throbs of pain shooting through his head. "Those bastards have an old beef with us ... at least Jericho does."

"It's more than that", Matt creaked out with his eyes nearly shut from lack of energy. "Jericho wants to ..."

"It's _nothing_ more than that", Randy replied. "All Jericho wants to do is antagonize us, and since we have the tag titles, Chris had to bring his damn lackey along for the ride."

"Let me at him next week", John interjected, noticeably in higher spirits than the two brothers. "A quick FU to the bastard can shut him up pretty ..."

Matt slowly raised a hand to stop John's rapid speech. "No, no ... it's going to be one of us. I want to ask Austin if I can take on Christian next week. Big Head over here can have Jericho."

"... _Big Head_? Where did you get that from?"

"It just came to me. Shut up before I smack that ice pack off your head."

"**No one** ...", came a stern voice behind them, "... is going to smack anything off of anybody." Camilla came up and handed each of them shirts to put on. "It doesn't help that John nearly ripped Matt's head off before all of this happened. I know you just wanted to win the match, John, but the timing was horrible. I've already talked to Austin, and he's lined up that match against Christian you wanted, Matt, for next week. Randy, you've got Jericho the week after that. Now just drink some water and eat something."

After Camilla walked into the next room, all three men looked at each other oddly. Matt cocked his head to the side and whispered to John, "She's becoming our on-the-road mother."

"You best not let her hear that, bro", John suggested. "Or else she'll have your ass on a silver platter."

Matt recoiled a bit, adjusted his icepack, and slowly laid back against the locker. "The last thing I need is her breathing down my neck. I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't hurt me now, but when I get better, I wouldn't be surprised if she had me in some sort of submission hold."

"I think you need to stop worrying about her and start worrying about those two bumbling idiots that attacked us earlier", stated Randy. "No one makes fools out of us. Before, Jericho was just a thorn in our side. Now he's starting to dig into our skin just a little deeper than I want him to. Our revenge starts next week."

"Randy, you're making my headache worse. Can't we just take a break for now? All you ever do is whine about revenge."

Randy's head slowly turned to his brother, shooting a malicious glare at Matt.

"Me ... _whine_? Look who's talking!"

"Oh boy ...", muttered Cena under his breath. "Here we go." While Randy and Matt started to bicker at each other, John moved his attention over to the nearby monitor.

A few seconds later, a new theme song played over the loudspeakers, but Jeff Hardy's TitanTron popped up on the big screen. Hardy himself stood behind the curtain with a microphone in hand, hearing the negative reaction the fans were giving him. His palms were sweating profusely, enough to make it difficult to keep his grip on the mic.

_"I finally have a chance to defend myself out there. This wasn't my fault. It was all __**his**__ doing. All the pain he caused me all these years ... it's all **his** fault. I don't care if they believe me or not. Once I get this off my chest, I'll be able to move on with my career ... move on with my life."_

After taking a deep breath and cracking each of his knuckles, Jeff stepped beyond the curtain to the tune of "No More Words" by Endeverafter. Hardy displayed none of his usual bravado and walked down the ramp quietly, his eyes fixated on the steel grating beneath his feet. Jeff could hear the boos and jeers he was getting from the crowd, and each one seemed to bounce right off of him.

_"They don't matter. They can listen to what I have to say. **Then**__ they can judge me."_

Albeit not _all_ of the fans were giving Hardy the cold shoulder. There were those who remembered how strange Jeff's reaction was to his brother falling off the ladder the previous night at SummerSlam. After slowly climbing up the ring steps and entering the squared circle, Hardy stood at the side facing the camera, his whole body nearly limp hanging on the top rope and his gaze staying on the floor. With all the negative noise going on around him, Jeff lifted the microphone to his lips, inch by inch, and started to speak.

" ... my brother is lucky to be alive. Last night, Matt suffered a broken sternum along with several of his ribs."

Jeff paused for a bit. The crowd seemed to have recoiled somewhat upon realizing what actually happened to the elder Hardy. Hearing Jeff's tone of voice wasn't the usual fare either.

"I'm sure you all wondered why I acted the way I did last night. I ... I guess you could say that I was relieved when I found out that my brother's career in this industry had been put on hold indefinitely."

It was here that Randy and Matt finally caught wind of what was happening out in the ring. Matt's curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly got up to turn the volume up on the monitor.

"As kids ...", Jeff began again, "... Matt always said to me that he didn't want anything bad to happen to his little brother. Apparently, he would have done _anything _to stop something like that. And I mean _anything_. If I did something stupid, incorrect, or naive, even at a young age, Matt would stop me from doing it. But ... Matt wouldn't stop there." There was a short pause as Jeff's voice began to start breaking. Backstage, Randy and Matt looked at each other with concern; Randy was beginning to have a hunch on where this was going.

"He ...", Jeff started as a tear rolled down his face, "... he would grab whatever was close to him and beat me with it. And if there wasn't anything nearby, he would use his fists. Matt would pound me into the ground _every time_ I made a mistake."

_"So we **were**__ right", _Matt thought.

_"I wish we weren't"_, Randy replied.

"Whenever I would come home with cuts or bruises that Matt caused, he would always make up an excuse to our parents as to why I had them. I would have either tripped and fell ... or had a tree branch scratch me somehow ... it was always some lame, incredible excuse, and my parents always believed it. They trusted Matt since he was the older one ... and Matt learned to use that to his advantage. The worst ... the worst that he did to me ... was when he caught me drinking beer when I was sixteen years old. The way he looked at me after he found out ... I'll never forget the look of pure anger and disgust that came onto his face."

Another pause. Jeff looked on the verge of breaking full out in tears.

"A few seconds later ... Matt reached over and broke my arm."

Randy's eyes flared open and his face turned beet red. _"How the hell ... how the hell can that piece of crumpled up **trash**__ do that to his own goddamn flesh and blood!"_

After letting the commotion from the crowd die down, Jeff continued. "This ... this was the reason that I did all those things leading up to SummerSlam. It was the reason that I took out John Cena prior to Backlash."

A short round of boos ensued and interrupted Jeff's speech. Backstage, John's ears now intently focused on what Hardy had to say.

"Things were getting out of control", Jeff pleaded. "My brother was repeatedly threatening me with methods I can't describe here on live television. I wanted to break out of this vicious vicegrip Matt had on me. That's why I accepted HBK's offer to join D-Generation X ........... I thought I was happy, but things weren't exactly the way I wanted them. I still wanted to brother that I deserved throughout my whole life. Shawn and Eric didn't quite fit that description. And while I was in DX, I began to realize what a tight bond the two Orton brothers had. Now ... something like _that_ is what I've wanted all my life." Jeff lowered the microphone for a second. "... I guess I went about it the wrong way. I attacked John with a lead pipe to force Matthew Orton to pick me to be his replacement partner."

John silently stood up and started to slowly shuffle over to the door.

"Where the hell do you think _you're_ going?!", demanded a concerned Camilla.

"I need to get something off my chest."

As he watched Cena walk out the door, Randy noticed Batista shooting a malicious glare at John.

_"Whoa ... did you just see Dave's face?"_

_"Yes ... and I didn't like it."_

_"I think we need to go out there too. Dave looked like wanted to tear John's head off."_

_"Ugh ... not this again, Dave. **Please** ... please, not this again."_

_"I'm not going to let this happen. Come on. I'll help you get out there."_

Randy threw one of Matt's arms over his shoulder and lifted his brother to his feet.

"You two are going out there _too?!_ When will these boys ever learn?", Camilla shouted before retreating to the restroom. Amy giggled as she passed by, Eric rolled his eyes, and Batista remained glaring at the monitor.

Jeff Hardy was now waiting patiently in the ring, looking eagerly at the stage. Jeff had just asked everyone in the arena to forgive what he had done. After the overwhelming positive response from the crowd, music over the loudspeaker interjected the air, and John Cena came out to his theme song, "The Time is Now". Although the effects from the earlier attack were still hurting John, it appeared as if nothing happened. Jeff took a couple of steps back and was prepared to flee as John entered the ring, but stopped when he saw Randy and Matt trailing behind John. Lilian handed John a second microphone and stood next to the brothers at ringside.

"I can understand why you did what you did, Jeff", Cena started. "And in my ... no, in _our _eyes, you're okay."

Accompanied by a round of applause from the fans, Jeff looked down at the Ortons, who were both nodding their heads. This prompted Hardy to let out a small smile.

"However ... the rule is in our family, Jeff, that we don't forgive. All you have to do is backup your words with actions. That's what happened to Batista, and that's what happened to me. Those two down there gave me a second chance, and there's no reason you shouldn't get one either."

Cena extended his hand to Hardy, which Jeff quickly accepted. While Jeff's new theme song played, Randy and Matt looked to the stage, expecting Batista to come out and storm the ring. But as Jeff and John celebrated with a cheerful and exuberant crowd, no other music interrupted the festivities.

_"No Batista ..."_, Matt thought. _"What gives?"_

_"I don't know ... but he's not coming down here. I say we go back and find out what the hell is going on."_

Matt nodded briefly, and the pair started to hobble back up the ramp.

_"First, we get smashed in the head by a couple of bumbling idiots, and now Batista is going crazy again. What else can pile onto our plate now?"_

"Hey, Orton!"

Randy and Matt both turned around to see Jeff holding the microphone.

"Let me be the first ... well, I guess the second ... to lay out a challenge. I'm coming after that Intercontinental title of yours!"

_"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you, Matt?"_

* * *

"Dude!", Mark exclaimed after finally getting in the car. "That was freaking AWESOME! Batista wrecked Triple H's face, the match between Eric and the Undertaker was off the hook, Jeff Hardy's going after the Intercontinental title, and we've got our first new tag team to hate!"

Adam laughed quite heartily, seeing his brother revert to being a teenager again. After a trip to the local fast-food place and the short drive back home, the two young men sat down to eat. Adam tore into his burger, but stopped when he noticed Mark not eating.

"Oh, come on! You whined all the way home about food. I go and buy you some and now you're not eating!? What kind of idiot ..."

Adam soon slowed down when he realized that something was wrong.

"I just ...", Mark started. "... I just wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me. You gave up college, your dreams of getting a great job and lots of money ... all for me."

Adam, taken aback by his brother's words, only smiled.

"Whenever they come back, Mark, we'll go see them again. I'll always be there for you. There's _nothing_ that can separate us from each other."

* * *

_Done. Whew. Anyway ... sorry that took so long. I just hadn't had the time. _

_When we return, we find out what the hell Batista is thinking, how Chris Jericho reacts to Jeff Hardy's challenge for Randy's belt, and how Randy reacts to a particular bit of athleticism during Matt's match with Christian._

_SuspiciousInitials _


	3. Enrage

_Ok … let's try this again._

_First, we find out what's going through the Animal's mind. Then, after learning of a change in plans for Monday night's match, Matt finds someone in a bind._

_Here we go!_

_

* * *

_

Batista closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to relieve the tension seizing his entire being. The warm Tucson night air filled his lungs as Batista looked up towards the dark sky. Dave really wanted to see some of the stars, but the bright lights of the busy city prevented that from happening. Scratching his head in disappointment, Dave turned his attention back to what he let himself do in the locker room.

"_I'm not a bad person. I'm not. I just get angry every so often. … Ok, I get angry _**all**_ the time. Being around them while I'm angry is dangerous. I'll hurt them. I don't want to hurt them anymore."_

The sound of the arena's doors opening broke Batista's concentration, and he turned to see the two Ortons emerging from inside. Upon seeing Dave, the brothers braced themselves for a fight. Batista stared at the duo and let out a little chuckle.

"What? I can't come out here and take a breather every now and then? You two should do it once in a while too."

Randy and Matt looked at each other with furrowed faces and narrowed eyebrows, relaxed slightly at Dave's odd answer.

"You ...", stammered the younger of the two, "... you **aren't** angry?"

"Not anymore. It's amazing what some fresh air can do for you."

"What were you angry about? You looked at John like you were going to rip his head off and feed it to the dogs", Randy commented.

Batista looked up to the night sky before answering. "Well … it's just something I'm dealing with. Jealousy. John has the one thing I came into the company to get. Ever since I decided to join this business, that belt has been my goal. And to see it **so** close to me ..." Dave stopped his explanation. The big man looked down to the ground and chuckled. "I'm not good at this sort of thing. I wish I had that psychedelic communication thing that you two share. You'd understand what I'm going through."

Matt couldn't help but giggle. Randy quickly frowned at him, thinking he was an idiot for laughing at the Animal. "It's 'telepathic', Dave. Psychedelic is something you heard in the 70s."

Randy was surprised that Dave chuckled yet again. "Are you trying to say I'm old?"

"Well … you _are_ rather …"

"Shut up, Orton", Dave rang out with a smile on his face. The two brothers were now completely relaxed. Instead of having to subdue a raging animal, they were joking with a man who almost seemed like he was their age.

"So … let me get this straight", said Randy still incredulously, "your jealous of John and his belt, and all you need to do is walk outside for some fresh air?"

"Yeah … basically."

Matt shrugged and rubbed the back of his head, still sore from the chair shot earlier that night. "Problem solved. Let's go back to the hotel and have some pizza."

"You are eating way too much of that crap", Dave blared out as Matt was opening the doors to the arena. "You're starting to gain body fat from it. I can see it on you."

"I didn't know you enjoyed looking at my body so much, Dave. Remind me to not room with you when we're on the road. You might do ..."

Randy's eyes widened in disbelief. Surely a jab like that would infuriate Dave to the point to where Matt would be beaten to a bloody pulp. Seeing Dave raise an arm to strike, Randy reached out to stop him … but was too late.

Dave punched Matt in the shoulder playfully.

Randy stopped walking and stared at the two men in front of him acting like they were teenagers. Well … Matt already fit into that category, but to see Dave like that … it was unbelievable.

"_Are you two trying to jumble my brain or something? I thought he was going to ..."_

"_Will you shut it? He has anger management issues just like we do. His are maybe a little bit worse than ours, but we can manage to help him. Chill. It'll be alright. Let's get back to the locker room and pack up."_

Dave and Matt continued to play fight down the hall to the locker room, much to the bewilderment of Randy. With his hands on his hips and his gaze to the ground, Randy slowly followed in step of the two other men.

"_You know", _Randy kept to himself, _"we can't be childish like this forever. Nothing lasts forever."_

_

* * *

_

The rest of the week passed by quickly. Matt took Dave's comment to heart, resulting in him giving up pizza and running 30 minutes more a day on the treadmill. The Sunday before the next RAW, Eric and Amy visited HBK in the hospital, who had waken up from his coma. After a Amy stayed behind while Eric went to train with Dave, Randy, John, and Matt at a local gym, where the group was mobbed by fans wanting autographs. Dave and John kept the fans at bay while Eric, Randy, and Matt spotted each other on the bench press.

"How is Shawn?", Randy said, watching his brother complete the third rep of his set. "He's gotta be in great condition given your attitude change."

"Well, I'm just grateful he's awake. He's gonna be out of it for a little while, but I've still got my mentor there when I need him."

"No kidding. If something like that happened to Matt …", Randy shuddered. "... I wouldn't like it too much."

"How's about you two chatterboxes help me?!", Matt said through gritted teeth, struggling intensely to push the weight up a fifth and final time. With a slight assist from both Eric and Randy, Matt racked the bar and sat up, rubbing his upper chest. "Dammit … almost five. I'm just stuck at 305."

"Aww … poor baby", Randy said mockingly. Matt gave an annoyed stare at his brother before getting up to put more weight on for Eric. Barringer, meanwhile, was browsing the net on his cell phone.

"Heh, look at this", Eric handed the phone, which was on a wrestling blog, to Randy. Orton looked down to see that an irate Chris Jericho had let loose a caustic choice of words toward Jeff Hardy for making a challenge at his Intercontinental title.

"It's like he's actually 14 years old ranting and raving like he just got his PlayStation taken from him. You know, I don't know if I'll ever be able to respect him like I used to before I got into the business."

"The words 'respect' and 'Chris Jericho' don't belong in the same sentence", Matt interjected. "After all the crap we've endured from him, it would take something close to an act of God for him to get any sort of respect from me."

"Whoa ...", Randy exclaimed after browsing a few more pages of the blog. "Looks like Austin's got a change of plans for tomorrow night. Instead of those two matches that we wanted against Jericho and Christian, Austin's put you, Jeff, and the two idiots in a Fatal Four Way for the #1 contender's spot to me."

Matt's shoulders went down a bit in disappointment. He had _really_ wanted to get his hands on Christian without having to worry about two other people in the ring. But if it meant getting another shot at Randy's title...

"I'd worry more about Christian and Jericho then getting a swipe at my belt", Randy mentioned as Eric started his set. To Matt's surprise, Eric blasted through the five reps quickly, racking the bar before Matt could realize it.

"Apparently you need to worry about how I can lift more than you too", Eric smart talked to Matt. The younger Orton rolled his eyes while unracking the weight on the bar.

* * *

Wandering the halls backstage alone at a WWE event wasn't Matt's favorite thing to do. He knew that any one of his current or former rivals could ambush him at any time.

"_I need to find Jeff. I have to form some sort of alliance with him. I may be an Orton, but I can't take on three men by myself."_

Orton navigated the halls quickly and quietly, paying attention to what superstar came out of what locker room. Matt had spotted which one was Christian's, and momentarily contemplated grabbing a nearby lead pipe and playing baseball with Christian's head.

"_No … not now. If I draw Jericho's anger out even more right now, he could be on Randy and I for a very long time to come. Not to mention Christian himself might be a tad bit angry ..."_

Matt's thought stopped when he turned the corner. He stood behind Christian and Chris Jericho, each holding a weapon, cornering someone at the end of the hallway. Assuming it was Jeff, Matt snatched a nearby 2x4 and ran full speed towards the duo. Hearing the coming footsteps, Christian and Jericho turned around and readied their weapons to swing away at Orton. Thinking quickly, Matt launched himself in a baseball slide in between the two men. Matt turned and smacked Jericho in the back of the knee with the piece of wood, sending Y2J to his knees. Christian managed to hit Matt in the back with a chair, but Orton shrugged it off and pulled Christian to the ground by the ankle. Ignoring the stinging on his back and readjusting his grip on the 2x4, Orton stabbed the blunt end in Christian's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Matt got to his feet and held his weapon high before saying …

"The next time I see you two, it better be in the ring. Jeff and I ...", Matt looked behind him, expecting to see Jeff walking up to his side. Matt dropped his weapon at who he saw, however.

Cowering in the corner was Lilian.

Something in Matt snapped. After taking a moment to let Randy know where they were and what was going on, Matt picked the 2x4 back up and start to wail on Christian. Not caring where the blows landed, Orton let loose with everything he had. Jericho managed to get to his feet and rushed down to the end of the hall. Turning the corner, Chris ran into the someone and stopped dead in his tracks.

An angry older brother was staring him down. Randy grabbed Jericho by the back of the head and rammed Jericho face first into the nearby brick wall, sending him to the ground. Not done yet, Orton picked Jericho up and repeated the movement, this time knocking Jericho out cold. A small trickle of blood could be seen on Chris' forehead, and Randy turned his attention down the hall. Christian was down there in much the same state that Jericho was: knocked out and bloody. Lilian ran down the hall and latched onto Randy, crying and shivering with fear. Randy held her tightly as a still trembling Matt walked up to the pair.

"_I'm so angry, I can't give myself the self-control to speak. Please tell me why those two nimrods would attempt something like that."_

"_To get under our skin."_ Randy glanced back down the hall at Jericho, who was slowly beginning to stir. _"Jericho tried before to get the Intercontinental title from us and failed. Apparently … he wants us to take him more seriously."_

The sound of running footsteps echoed in the hallway, and the two brothers looked over to see Eric sprinting towards them.

"_I passed a bloody Jericho getting down here. Did they __**seriously**__ try to hurt Lilian?"_

Matt gently nodded his head. Lilian could be heard crying, her face still buried in Randy's chest. The older Orton carefully moved Lilian's head so that her eyes were looking up at his. Quietly and with great patience, Randy uttered …

"Trust me. Go with Eric. We'll take care of this."

Lilian looked down at both fallen men, who both were beginning to come to. She hesitated, but Lilian started to follow Eric, who was careful enough to stay in between Jericho and Lilian as they rounded the corner. With only a nod, Randy signaled his brother to carry Christian's body over to Jericho. Chris was now beginning to stumble to his feet, but was caught once more by Randy smashing his head into the wall. A few seconds later, Matt ungracefully unloaded Christian straight on top of Jericho. Randy squatted down in front of Jericho's face and said...

"If you _ever_ muster up the cowardice again to go after my wife ..."

Matt's ears perked up at Randy's choice of words.

"... I will hunt you down and make your life a living hell for as long as I shall live. It's one thing to go after my brother, who can defend himself. But to go after a defenseless woman … someone who's not even on the active roster …"

For one last good measure, Randy slammed Jericho's face into the concrete. From the blood now spilling out onto the floor, he surmised that Chris' nose had been broken. After a few more moments staring at the pile of bloody and broken flesh, the brothers finally turned away and started to walk back to the locker room.

"_Thanks."_

"_... for what?"_

"_For behind stupid enough to want to go off by yourself. Otherwise, you would have never found her."_

"_You couldn't __**believe**__ the feeling I had when I saw it."_

"_I know __**exactly**__ how you felt. I felt your emotions myself: anger, confusion, hatred …It was so intense. You then told me what was going on and I bolted out the door. And all for this damn belt? Seriously?!"_

"_To be honest, Randy..."_, Matt thought hesitantly, _"... stuff like this has happened many times before. Remember the crap Stephanie McMahon went through when she was about to be wed to the Undertaker, back during the whole Ministry era? It's not uncommon for loved ones to go through something like this."_

Randy stopped walking and looked back at his brother.

"_I was put on this earth to protect two people: you and the woman who will become my wife. I will __**NOT**__ fail."_

"_We were put on this earth to keep each other strong. Whether it be kidding around with each other or saving each others wife, everything we do supports the other. You're not the only one who wants to protect people, Randy. Remember how helpless I felt when I found out that I couldn't have done anything to save my parents?"_

Randy's eyes sunk to the ground.

"_... I'm sorry."_

"_Just keep doing what you do. No matter what happens, we'll always be there for one another."_

* * *

Camilla was inspecting Matthew's back, seeing if the one chair shot Jericho managed to land did any damage.

"It's just red. Nothing you can't deal with. Now go suit up. Your match is up first."

"I guess it'll be just me and Jeff", Matt commented. "I'd be really surprised if either of those two idiots will be able to make it down to the ring."

Camilla shrugged as Matt grabbed his tights and went off to go change. Randy came into the room with the Intercontinental belt around his waist and his half of the World Tag Team Championships on his shoulder.

"What's taking him so long? We're gonna go live in about 2 minutes! We've got to get to the TitanTron ASAP!"

"_We've_?", asked Camilla. "You're going to go down there with him? Don't you know enough about your brother so that you wouldn't have to scout him?"

"Eh … I'm just going down there so I can stare down whomever ends up winning the match."

Camilla raised an eyebrow at Randy, then rolled her eyes. "I'll never understand the constant yearning you two have to one-up the other."

"We're brothers. Enough said", came Matt's voice as he emerged wearing a new set of maroon tights with gold lettering. Camilla handed Matt his tag championship belt and slapped him on the ass.

"Sexy", she said with a devilish smile.

"Down, girl. Down. _Later_."

Camilla sat down on a bench with a big smile on her face as the two brothers walked out of the locker room towards the TitanTron.

"Remember when you said to me that you were a virgin?"

Matt chuckled. "Yep. Not so true anymore."

"How many times do you think you've had sex between when you got married and right now?"

"**WAY **too many to count. She initiates it most of the time. Not that I'm complaining, but that woman is way hornier than I am."

"It's because she has an Orton for a husband."

Both men jumped back a little as they heard numerous explosions rock the arena … then calmed down when they realized those explosions were just the opening pyrotechnics for the night's events. As they continued, Jeff Hardy's new theme played, but was overwhelmed by the immense wave of cheers and applause from the crowd.

"Looks like he's finally getting the respect he deserves."

"After what he's been through, Jeff better not get anything less. On that thought, you know you're gonna have to keep him grounded, right? Do **not** let him get on that top rope."

"Duh. I know what I'm doing. You forget that I was nearly tag team champions with this man. I know his moveset."

"... you were his partner for only a couple of matches. Don't tell me you know everything there is to know about him and his strategy."

"You don't know everything either. Just let me do my thing."

'Burn In My Light' started to play, and both Randy and Matt stepped out onto the stage. A recovered Lilian proudly announced the two brothers down to the ring. Jeff stood in the opposite corner as Randy and Matt posed on the turnbuckle, each holding their belts in the air. Randy slapped Matt on the back and said a last word of luck before hopping out of the ring and sitting next to Lilian. Jeff and Matt started to circle around the ring, and the referee started the motion for the bell to ring when …

"_... you have __**got**__ to be kidding me."_

Chris Jericho and Christian stumbled down the ramp, each bandaged up from the earlier melee. Matt spun around to see Randy shoot up from his seat next to a horrified Lilian.

"_Stay there and protect her. Looks like you're going to face Jeff at Unforgiven."_

"_What the hell do you think you're talking about?"_

"_You think winning this match is the first thing on my mind right now? I'm going to __**destroy**__ those two."_

Matt then turned to Jeff and yelled, "Help me launch myself into them!"

Hardy nodded and got down on all fours on the side of the ring facing the ramp. Matt took a couple of steps back before running at full speed towards Jeff. Matt stepped on Jeff's back and went flying through the air. Christian managed to move out of the way, leaving Jericho to absorb the full force of Orton's momentum. Matt leaped to his feet and tossed Christian into the ring for Jeff to deal with.

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Matt positioned Jericho for a powerbomb on the cold steel ramp.

"_Three of them"_, Randy thought.

Matt adjusted his grip and let loose. The first and second powerbombs were easy enough; the third one stung a little from the chair shot earlier in the night. As soon as Matt was done with the third one, he instantly converted it into the Texas Cloverleaf. Matt reared back on Jericho while facing the ring; he could only smile as he saw Jeff deliver a Twist of Fate on Christian, followed through by a Swanton Bomb. A quick three-count later and Jeff Hardy was the new #1 contender to the Intercontinental Championship. Both Ortons watched Hardy celebrate in the ring for quite sometime. Before long, Matt forgot he still had Jericho in the Texas Cloverleaf. Orton let go and turned around, only to see Jericho motionless.

"_Huh … must have passed out from the pain. Poor baby."_

Randy walked up beside Matt and handed him his belt. The older Orton looked down at Jericho and delivered one swift kick to the side of Jericho's head.

"_He wanted us to take him seriously. I'd say he got exactly what he was asking."_

* * *

_FINALLY!_

_Anyway, even after the beating they took from Hardy and both Ortons, Chris Jericho and Christian come back to state their intentions to the world next Monday night._

_Matt's actually glad that Jeff Hardy is now the #1 contender to Randy's title. Will that rub Randy the wrong way?_

_One more bizarre and dangerous thing will happen to the Ortons before this Monday night is over. _

_I'm back!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	4. Inner Turmoil

_Okay. I'm back in my rhythm. I won't be able to upload them as quickly as I could before, but I can try my hardest. I think something that will help is if I shorten the chapters so you can have more frequent updates. So here we go!_

_- Back home, Randy and Lilian discuss what sort of safety measures need to be taken. Lilian isn't too keen on Randy's suggestion. _

_- Eric, Amy, and Matt go to visit Shawn for the first time since recovering from his coma._

_

* * *

_

Randy could hear the shuffling of dresser drawers, large suitcases, and closet doors up above him on the second floor. He knew his brother, Eric, and Amy were fixing to leave later in the afternoon to San Antonio. To be honest, he wouldn't mind the peace and quiet that would occupy the house; John and Dave were each at their own homes for the break. He looked over to the living room; Lilian was watching a movie with a bucket of unsalted popcorn in front of her. All he could see was the back of her head, but Randy could already see the look that Lilian would give him. As he pressed the button on the blender to mix his protein shake, Orton contemplated yet again his strategy.

_"Just ask her. Let her know that you have her best interests at heart."_

_"What the hell are you babbling about?"_

Randy rolled his eyes and looked up towards Matt's room upstairs.

_"Can you butt out for just a minute? Please? This is between me and her."_

Upstairs, Matt shrugged his shoulders and continued to pack.

"You've been mixing that shake for awhile now, babe. I think you got all the clumps out. Now come join me already!"

Randy smiled, poured his shake in a cup, and walked over to the living room. Orton sat down and put his arm around Lilian.

"You sure you don't want any?", Lilian said, waving the popcorn under Randy's nose. "I didn't put any butter or salt on it."

"No thanks, babe. Can't afford the extra carbs."

"What?", Lilian replied, raising an eyebrow. "Since when were you watching what you ate?"

"Well, if Matt is going to be anal about his weight and how he looks, then I will be too. I'm not letting him look better than me."

Lilian rolled her eyes. "Randy, don't you remember the nights of ordering pizza while at the hotel, or rolling into a McDonalds and getting milkshakes, or you waltzing into a Taco Bell and ..."

"Okay, okay ... I get it. What's your point?"

"Babe, you looked absolutely amazing when you ate all that crap and you'll continue to look absolutely amazing if you take just a couple pieces of popcorn." Lilian leaned in and smiled, trying to entice Randy into grabbing some, but Orton successfully resisted. Pouting, Lilian said, "You better shut up and drink your damn shake then." She put her head down on Randy's chest and turned up the volume of the movie. Randy started to run his fingers through Lilian's hair, playing with it while thinking to himself.

_"She's not going to like this. Not one bit."_

_"I don't know what it is, but you won't know how she'll like it until you ask her."_

_"Back off, you little prick, or I'll come up there and shove that suitcase down your throat!"_

But he was right. Randy took a deep breath, picked up the remote, and hit mute.

"Now why on earth would you do that?", Lilian said, grabbing for the remote that Randy was now holding out of her reach. Without thinking, Randy threw it behind him, hearing it land on the hard floor of the kitchen.

"I need to talk to you about something."

Lilian could recognize the 'serious' voice and put the popcorn down. She sat straight up and looked Randy in the eye. Orton immediately looked down to the floor.

"Babe, if you're going to say something to me, you need to look at me to do it properly."

After a second or two, Lilian picked Randy's chin up to where she could see in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"I don't want you announcing anymore", Randy spit out hastily. "Not on RAW, at least. I want you to switch to SmackDown. So Jericho can't get ahold of you."

Lilian didn't seem to change emotion. Randy was expecting her to at least frown, but with nothing happening, his thoughts started to stagnate.

"If I went to SmackDown...", Lilian started, "... I wouldn't be able to be with you nearly as much as I get to be now. But ... why are you asking me this? Do you not have any confidence in yourself? All Jericho was trying to do was to scare you. Plain and simple. He knows that if he tries something like that again, he'll get his ass handed to him."

"I don't want anything happening to you. If you're on SmackDown, nothing _can_ happen to you."

"You have the same fear your brother has. You have an irrational fear of failing. Randy, its perfectly fine to play the part of 'bodyguard' to me. But no matter what happens to me, you _haven't_ failed! If anything, Jericho will receive some sort of suspension or fine for attacking someone that isn't on the active roster. Its somewhere on his contract. I've already talked to McMahon about it."

"She's right."

Matt, Amy, and Eric appeared at the bottom step, packed suitcases in hand. Matt walked over and sat down in the recliner next to the pair.

"Listen. I'm officially out of the Intercontinental title picture. I'll make an extra effort to make sure she gets to where she needs to be without anything happening to her. Lilian wants you to focus on what you should be focusing on: the ring. Let me take some of the burden off of you."

"... you're not going to let _anything_ happen to her?"

"Randy, you know I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe. Believe me, I know what it feels like to have the fear of failure hanging over your shoulder all the time. Remember when I was paranoid about losing to you? I got over that quickly. This will pass too. Once you get your hands on Jericho again, all the anger and all the fear will leave you."

Randy turned to Lilian. "And you're _sure_ Jericho's gonna get suspended?"

"Either that or fined. Big time. See ... you're thinking with your heart and you went straight for him and Christian. That's perfectly fine. I think with my head. I filed a restraining order on him and it should be effective soon. He can only get near me if he has a match. If he does so much as look at me, he's fired."

Randy took in a long, deep breath. Releasing, he kissed Lilian on the head and got up to say his goodbyes to Matt, Amy, and Eric. After those goodbyes, Randy closed the door behind them. He went over and grabbed the remote he threw in the kitchen, sat down, and turned the movie back on.

"I guess I _will _have a piece or two of popcorn."

* * *

As soon as Matt parked the rental car in the hospital parking lot, Eric darted out the door without saying anything to either Matt or Amy.

"I guess he knows where he's going", Amy said.

"I doubt it. The only thing he knows is what room number to go to. Otherwise, he won't ask anyone for directions. Eric'll wander around aimlessly for a while. We'll probably get there before he does."

"And he does this _why_?", she said as Matt and her reached the entrance of the hospital.

"Impulse, I guess. Did stuff like this all the time when we were kids whenever he was really excited about something. This is actually the fastest I've seen him run off."

Amy's eyebrows raised themselves. "There's so much I still don't know about this man."

"And you're supposed to marry him."

"Well, you and Camilla had that feeling, right? That cliché of 'love at first sight'? Eric and I did too. Speaking of, wasn't Camilla supposed to come with us?"

"Nah. She woke up this morning with a bit of a fever. She's probably at home still sleeping. Lilian probably fixed her some soup after the movie she was watching with Randy."

Amy's eyebrows furrowed inward. She lagged a step behind Matt now, wondering about what he just said. "Besides Eric, Camilla was the one who was most concerned about him. It's strange to think that she would let a fever keep her at the house."

"Well, I tend not to question her much anymore", Matt replied. "Else she gets me in some sort of hold until she gets her way."

The pair found the information desk and was quickly off to Shawn's room on the 5th floor. After a couple of left turns, Amy and Matt came up to Eric huffing and puffing in front of the door.

"Too tired to knock there buddy?", Matt snapped. Eric couldn't manage a verbal or even a mental response; he only stuck the middle finger up at Matt. Amy took the initiative and knocked, and Rebecca gladly opened the door.

"Been wonderin' when you'd show up", Rebecca said while giving each person a hug. "You okay there, hon?", she asked, referring to Eric. "You looked like you just finished a marathon."

"He did", answered Amy quickly with a giggle. Eric looked up for the first time and saw Shawn sitting up in his hospital bed; the young man instantly seemed to get a second wind and walked over to Shawn's side. Amy and Matt wisely took a step back and started to talk with Rebecca while Eric initiated conversation with Shawn.

"... you okay?"

"Yeah ... I'm fine, kid", Shawn replied, slapping Eric on the back. "You win Sunday night? Do I got the World champ sitting right here beside me?"

"No ... I lost. Not without one hell of a fight, though."

Shawn's shoulders went down slightly, but a smile still remained on his face. "You'll do well, kid. SummerSlam was just not your time; it'll come soon enough."

"But what about you? Sunday night there was speculation about your skull being cracked and you being sidelined for rest of your life and ..."

"My skull cracked? Now ... I know I received a pretty bad blow to the head, but it didn't get _that_ bad. Me being sidelined? Well ... I'll be out for a little while. The last couple of hours spent here talking to my wife and kid has made me appreciate what I have right now in my life. I think I need to take some time off and spend it with them."

"Shawn ...", Eric creaked out. Matt looked over and knew that Eric was getting nervous. "... I _need _you there with me. Without you ..."

Shawn put a hand up to silence Eric. "Kid ... think about this. For just about your whole professional career, you've been part of DX. You've leaned on our shoulders for a _long_ time. Now, I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, but you need to go out there and create your own identity. You're not part of Evolution. You're not part of DX. You are Eric Barringer. You came within 2 inches of becoming the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. Go out there and remind the industry that you are your own man and that you don't need to wear green or come out with an 'X' above your head to matter."

HBK stopped because a couple of tears were running down Eric's face.

"Eric ... come on ... you can't act like this. Not now." Sobbing started to fill the room, and Matt's shoulders started to sulk downwards. "Get yourself together", Shawn told Eric.

"I just ... I just don't know what to do ... to do on my own", Eric said between sobs. "Every single decision that I have taken in my life had been based on what Matt has done. Whatever he did, I did. That's why I wanted to join Evolution. But the _minute_ I try to do something on my own, I screw up. I almost lost my best friend. If I don't copy someone, everything will go to hell."

_"Not this again..."_, Matt thought to himself. "Eric, I thought we got over the self-confidence issue a long time ago! Listen ... you've beaten me more times that I've beaten you, and when I have beaten you, it was with help from Randy. You've made plenty of successful decisions on your own! You nearly became world champ, which is something I've yet to even get near! You..."

Orton stopped upon feeling an aura of anger start to radiate off of Eric.

"Get back, Amy."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm just going to have to take this one for ..."

**_SMACK!_**

Matt's body crumpled to the floor, causing Amy and Rebecca to jump in fright. Eric had stood up and leveled his best friend with one punch. Amy tended to Matt while Rebecca restrained Eric. Once Barringer calmed down, he looked back at Shawn.

"... Feel better now, kid? You just about knocked his head clean off."

"Sorry. I get like that sometimes. I'm not very good about keeping feelings pent up inside me."

"Tell ya what. The first thing I want you to do when you get home is to pick your own theme song. It may seem small, but it'll get you started to creating your new self. Okay? And while you're at it, make Orton an ice pack. He'll need it for that black eye you gave him."

Eric chuckled. _"If there's something Shawn knows about me, it's how to make me laugh._ ... Alright then. Next time you see me, I'll be a brand new person. I promise."

"... does this mean I get to slug you once?", Matt said weakly as he got to his feet.

* * *

_There we go. Next time ..._

_- With Unforgiven coming up soon, Triple H looks to push himself into the World Championship match. _

_- Randy and Matt gain an unexpected ally in their fight against Chris Jericho and Christian._

_Hope you enjoyed this one!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	5. Aggression

_Alright, let's go!_

_- Eric finally picks his theme song along with a brand new look, which surprises many of his friends._

_- When the main event of the night seems to go wrong, a new acquisition from SmackDown! saves the night._

_

* * *

_For most of the car ride this Monday afternoon, Eric had been listening to all the music on his laptop, searching for a song that would make a perfect theme for himself. Matt's black eye was just about cleared up, although a faint ring still existed on his face. Camilla played with the button on Matt's pants, undoubtedly sending him a message about what she wanted later that night. Randy and Lilian snuggled in the backseat, happy that Randy had achieved a level of peace in himself previously unreached. Dave was seated next to Randy, snoring loudly; Batista put himself through an all-night training session and was dead tired. John was driving, and Amy was in the passenger's seat fiddling with the radio, also trying to find a theme song for Eric.

"Does anyone even know what's going on tonight?", Lilian asked. "Has Austin said anything about matches at all?"

"It says here", Eric replied after pulling up , "that Triple H has something to say once RAW goes on the air. Other than that, that's all that's mentioned. Looks like Austin'll make the rest up on the spot. The good news is ... I've found my new theme song."

Batista's head perked up suddenly, startling Randy. "Really? What is it?"

"Something Matt will laugh at. Otherwise, none of you have ever heard of it."

Matt frantically began to search Eric's mind, but kept finding himself locked out of Eric's thoughts.

_"You seriously thought I would make it that easy? Just wait until tonight. I plan to make a little interruption on whatever Mr. Big Nose has to say."_

_

* * *

_The opening pyro for Monday Night RAW had just finished, and the announcement of tonight's main event match filled the TitanTron: Randy Orton and Matthew Orton against Christian and Chris Jericho. Matt walked out of the changing room already in his wrestling gear; since they were in Dallas, Matt sported the colors of the Dallas Cowboys: dark blue and silver.

"I'm _nothing_ compared to this dude", Matt said, pointing back inside the changing room after Camilla did her obligatory lustful gawking. "Eric was taking this new identity thing really seriously."

Amy's eyes and ears perked up to the doorway ... and her mouth dropped to the floor upon seeing what walked out. Instead of the bright green denim pants he usually wore, Eric donned a dark red pair of windpants with a gold stripe down the pantlegs. Eric's hair was now back in a ponytail, and the signature bandanna he used to wear was discarded; he now wore it tied around his right upper bicep.

"What do you think?", Eric said, looking straight at Amy. "I thought about cutting my hair short, but I wanted to get your thoughts before doing that."

"Dude ...", Matt interjected, "... I haven't seen you cut your hair ... _ever_. You're seriously considering doing something like that?"

"Well, to create a new me, I have to do some pretty drastic things, don't I?"

"But ... but ... you _can't _cut your hair!", Amy almost shouted. "It's one of the things that makes you ... **you**!"

"Alright, alright ... fine. I'll just keep it back like I have right now. And the outfit? What do you think about this one?"

"You did it because you knew I like the color red, didn't you?", she said with a sly smirk on her face.

"Eh ... it was part of the decision. But red is one of my fave colors too. You won't see anymore 'X's above my head, no more of me wearing green, and no more me using Sweet Chin Music in my matches. An all new Eric Barringer is about to walk out onto that stage."

"Speak of the devil", Dave boomed out, pointing to the monitor. "'Mr. Big Nose', as you kids call him, is about to say something."

Without saying anything else, Eric calmly started to stroll out the door towards the stage. Triple H's music had just concluded, and the Cerebral Assassin stood in the ring with a microphone in his hand, staring blankly into the waves of fans who were booing and jeering him. Taking a deep breath and rolling his eyes, Hunter started to speak.

"I guess you could call this the beginning of the end of an era. D-Generation X was brought back from the depths of wrestling history, intended to rise once again to the top, holding every major title and instilling fear inside of every major WWE Superstar. *chuckle* Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Once I realized the fate of our group, I immediately decided that D-Generation X had to be wiped from the face of the company. 2 weeks ago at SummerSlam, I shoved a sledgehammer into the side of Shawn Michaels' head." Triple H stopped to hear the crowd overtake him with vicious shrieks and bellows from every corner of the arena. A smirk stole Triple H's face only for a moment before he continued. "Poor boy fell into a coma for a little while. But don't worry, kids ... ol' HBK is all right. He woke up last week. But his injury is severe enough to keep him on the shelf for the **rest ... of ... his ... life.**" There was another pause. By now, Triple H was soaking all the negativity from the crowd into his ego. "By my count, there is still one member of ..."

Unfamiliar music began to play in the arena, throwing Triple H off his ego trip. A couple people in the crowd nodded their heads in approval, including Matt backstage.

"Someone want to tell me what the hell that is?", Amy asked, her head slunk back in confusion.

"It's video game music. 'You're Not Here', the theme song from Silent Hill 3 on the PlayStation2. Pretty good stuff. I guess it kinda fits with Eric's new outing." Amy began to open her mouth to question him, but Matt held up a hand to stop her. "I'll print you out the lyrics later. Just listen to what he's about to say now."

By the time Amy had her eyes back on the monitor, Eric was already in the ring. Lilian had proudly given him a microphone before he slid under the bottom rope to join Triple H.

"I have to say, Hunter, what you did at SummerSlam took a large set of cajones. What you said tonight just a few moments ago ... _that _took an even larger set. You see, Shawn pushed me out of the way when you swung that sledgehammer. If it weren't for him, _I_ would be sitting in a hospital room bed right now." Eric paused for some applause and support from the crowd. "Shawn may be on the shelf, but you forget that I am his protége."

"If you want a fight, little boy ... _I'm game._"

"Believe me, Triple H, I want a fight. I really do. But I don't just want any old plain jane fight. I want each of us to be able to take each other apart limb ... by ... limb. You could do that in any sort of match. Hardcore Rules, a Steel Cage match, an Ironman match ... hell, we could go at it in a Hell in a Cell match." The crowd brewed hotly with anticipation and anxiety over a possible Hell in a Cell match between the two. "But ... but there's a certain type of match that I feel like I need to redeem myself in. As a matter of fact, I think a carbon copy of the match I had with my best friend this year at No Way Out would suit this sort of tension between us."

"... a Last Man Standing match then?"

"... with a sledgehammer hung above the ring."

Triple H backed off for a bit, putting his hands on his hips and walking towards the corner turnbuckle. Eric thought for a moment that Triple H would actually refuse. Sure enough...

"No. I will face you on my terms and my time. Anything else and ..."

The sound of glass breaking made Triple H, Eric, and the whole crowd jump.

"Now ... I'm going to make this short and sweet; I've got a case of beer waiting for me in my office. Triple H ... you dumb son of a bitch ... I think you've done forgot who makes the matches here on RAW! Now ... I already had something planned for tonight. You see, I had heard it through the grapevine that Hunter thinks he deserves to be in the world championship match at Unforgiven. So I'm going to make you all a deal. Next week, our little ladder-slash-last man standing match will take place, with the lucky son of a bitch winner joining both Batista and John Cena at Unforgiven. Now, as for tonight, I'll change my plans a little bit. Each of you will pick the opponent of the other. Now. You've got 5 seconds."

Eric didn't have to think twice. "John Cena."

Neither did Triple H. "The Undertaker."

* * *

"The following non-title tag team match is scheduled for one fall!"

'Burn In My Light' started to play and the brothers proudly displayed their World Tag Team Championships to the crowd. There was no posing though; Randy and Matt wanted this match to be quick and brutal. Each handed their belts down to Lilian and stared down the ramp.

"You sure you want to do this?", Matt shouted out loud over the combined roar of the crowd and their music. "You're not one to do a lot of acrobatics."

"Jericho will wish that tonight was all just a bad dream when I'm done with him tonight."

**_BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!_**

Jericho's theme started to play and his TitanTron displayed on the big screen, but the night's antagonists weren't appearing. A few precious seconds went by, and Randy now knew that he and his brother might be victims of a trap. Randy turned around and, sure enough, he saw Christian and Jericho running through the crowd, about to hop over the railing. What surprised him even more is that the duo were jumping the railing dangerously close to Lilian. Matt sensed Randy's distress, and turned around as well. Taking a page from the short time he teamed with Jeff Hardy, Matt got on his hands and knees near the ropes. Randy waited until Jericho and Christian were in range, then ran at full speed towards Matt. Using his brother as a springboard, Randy leaped over the top rope, crashing into his adversaries.

_"Remind me ... to **never** ... do that again ..."_, Randy thought to Matt. _"I landed on my hip ... **hard**." _

_"I guess some of us are just better suited for high flying."_

Matt was ready to demonstrate. Christian was already stirring, but Jericho was still prone on his stomach.

_"Dude ...", _Randy said. _"... don't even think about trying it! What if he moves?"_

Since the match hadn't formally started, the ref tugged on Matt's leg, trying to restrain him. Part of Matt wanted to defy his brother, part of Matt wanted to defy gravity, but another part of Matt was thinking of safety and strategy. He saw Randy hobble over to Lilian to check on her before going back to their side of the ring. The younger Orton would officially start the match, with Christian starting for the other team.

_"You gonna be okay?"_, Matt asked, _"You looked pretty bad walking over here."_

_"I'll be okay. I'll walk it off here on the apron. Don't let them know that I'm hurting; they'll go after my hip."_

Matt nodded before turning around, to see Christian up and ready to go. Jericho was hanging his head over the top rope, apparently still a little worn out from the earlier attack by Randy. The ref signaled for the bell to ring and, to Matt's surprise, Christian was the one who was charging at him. Matt quickly dodged and Christian smacked into the turnbuckle chest first. Randy enjoyed getting a cheap shot to the side of Christian's face before Matt caught Christian with a back body drop. Christian's recoil on the mat put him on his stomach, so Matt immediately zeroed in on his lower back by bringing down the heel of his boot repeatedly and forcefully. After a few good whacks, Matt picked up one of Christian's legs and reared back in a half Boston Crab.

_"Don't make him tap out already ..."_, Randy mentioned, _"... I want a part of this too."_

Matt looked back and reached his hand out towards his brother; he was close enough to tag out. Randy's face, however, suddenly jerked up with eyes open wide. Matt could sense what was about to happen, but he couldn't act fast enough; Jericho came storming in the ring with a steel chair and took a full swing at Matt's head. The younger Orton managed to duck, only catching the edge of the chair scraping the back of his head and neck. Matt let go of Christian and fell to the mat, clutching his neck and screaming intermittently. Jericho reared back to take another swing, this time at Randy, but Randy stepped back off the apron and onto the floor before Jericho could connect. Matt rolled out onto the floor as well to avoid Jericho from taking another shot.

The ref had already rung the bell to disqualify Jericho and Christian, but things were just getting started. Randy managed to grab hold of one of Jericho's boots and Orton drug him outside to the floor. Matt scrambled to his feet with the feeling of a hot brand being impressed into the back of his head. He went over towards Lilian and grabbed one of the World Tag Team Championship belts. Upon turning around, he looked inside the ring to see it empty; Christian had made his way down onto the floor and was helping out a desperate Jericho. Christian caught Matt running towards them out of the corner of his eye and tackled him down before Matt could swing the belt. Jericho had taken the upper hand, pinning Randy's arms down with his knees and slugging his face, one punch after the other. Christian managed to wrench the belt out of Matt's hands and smacked him once across the face of it; Matt was knocked out flat on his back. Randy seemed to be knocked out too; Jericho had stopped his assault. The fans around them were shouting obscenities and throwing concession stand food at Jericho after seeing blood running out of Randy's nose and down his chest. Bloody knuckles and all, Jericho stood up and turned towards Lilian.

"That bastard wouldn't dare ...", Eric said from backstage in the locker room. Contrary to his statement, Jericho indeed started a slow movement towards Lilian. Lilian stood up and looked like she was about to jump the divider between herself and the crowd when ...

**_"You think you know me ..."_**

Christian's eyes shot up to the TitanTron, and his brow began to sweat when he saw his brother sprinting down the ramp. Edge, however, ran towards Jericho and speared him into the divider. Edge got to his feet and looked down at a whining Jericho, landing a few extra kicks in the stomach. Edge then looked over towards Christian, who promptly started running up the ramp. Edge took off after him, leaving behind a bloody and writhing mess. Lilian darted over to Randy, feverishly trying to wipe up the blood on his body with a spare handkerchief, not knowing what else to do.

* * *

_Next time ..._

_- While Randy and Matt recover in the trainer's room, John and Eric have their matches against Triple H and Taker, respectively. But Amy seems to notice something odd..._

_- Matt tries to extend a hand of friendship to Edge, but doesn't receive the response he thought he would get._

_I know it's been a while since I've started writing again; let me know how I'm doing! _

_See you later ..._

_SuspiciousInitials_


	6. Rejection

_- The General Manager surprises the two brothers with a huge match made for Unforgiven._

_- Both Matt and Amy tend to have the same suspicions ... but Randy thinks otherwise._

_Hope you like it!_

_

* * *

_After stumbling through the curtain with Randy leaning on him, Matt couldn't take the physical stress anymore. He found a nearby table and sat Randy down on his back. Matt pulled up a nearby steel chair and sat down, taking a few deep breaths and wiping the sweat off his forehead. Orton tried to look over to his older brother to survey the damage, but his eyes couldn't focus. Blurry images ran rampant in Matt's vision along with a migraine the size of Texas. He could see colors though; Randy's chest was covered in blood red. A heaviness took hold of Matt's heart, and he quickly felt Randy's wrist, looking for a pulse.

_"Thank god ..."_, he thought after finding it. Matt still couldn't focus; he knew that this meant he probably received some sort of concussion from Christian's shot with the belt. As for Randy ...

_"He's still not conscious ... I have to at least try to get him over there. They have smelling salts or something ..."_

Getting to his feet was more of a chore than he thought it would be. The table served as a brace for Matt for at least 20 seconds as Matt regained his composure. Scooping Randy up with his arms would be too hard; instead, Matt wrapped Randy's arms around his neck and carried him piggyback with Randy's legs dragging on the floor. Looking up in front of him, Matt couldn't see anything that looked like a human being.

"Why are you carrying me?"

The voice from behind him nearly caused Matt to drop his brother. Randy managed to plant his feet on the ground and his hands shot up to his nose.

"The fucker ... Jericho ... where the hell ... where the hell is he? I want ... I want to **rip his fucking face off!**"

"Drop it. Just drop it now. We're in no condition to fight. Wait until ..."

"I'm tired of **fucking** waiting! The son-of-a-bitch attacked us after SummerSlam. I wait until next week. Then he threatened Lilian. Now he and his little crony cheap shot us and leave us bleeding on the mat! This needs to be over! I'm not going to wait any longer! I'm not going to ..."

"Well ... we _did_ pummel him and Christian until they were ..."

"Waiting is exactly what you're going to do, son!", came a different, yet recognizable voice.

With the two using each other for leverage, both looked up to see Stone Cold come into view.

"What the hell are you talking about?", spouted out an angry Randy, drops of blood splashing off his lips.

"Think about it, Orton. I'm the General Manager. I have to do what's good for business. This little argument that's going on between you and Jericho is gonna be perfect. At first, I was gonna put you and that Hardy kid for your Intercontinental title on the Unforgiven card. But now, especially since I traded for Edge to come the Monday nights ... I'm going to make the match at Unforgiven a Steel ... no, a Hell in a ..."

Matt started to step back once he saw the ever widening grin of his brother as Austin mentioned the type of match.

"... I know now. An _Elimination Chamber_ match."

Matt now realized that Randy didn't understand the implication of what Austin was saying. Randy was taking too much delight in envisioning what could he could do to Chris Jericho inside that horrendous contraption.

"But ... an Elimination Chamber requires six people. Randy and Jericho ain't enough."

Austin held back a chuckle, hearing Matt's Texan accent come through. "You know son, I would think you, of all people, would realize what that means. I'm gonna put the both of you, Christian, Jericho, Hardy, and Edge in it!" The General Manager slap each of the Orton's on the back. "Now you two get patched up. And expect to defend those tag team belts of yours next week. Have a good night, ya'll." Steve then turned and walked away, leaving Randy looking like he just won a multi-state lottery jackpot and leaving Matt looking like he just got punched in the stomach. Randy stood up straight, took in a deep breath, and started to walk towards the trainer, holding his nose. Matt still had the same look on his face and said, turning to his brother ...

"That's it?! That one thing calmed you down? It's not going to be just you two in that chamber! Four other men, Randy! **I'm **one of them!" This seemed to put a little "oomph" in Matt's step too; he quickly jogged up to his brother's side. "The prospect of losing that title means nothing to you?"

"Right now ... methodically taking apart Y2J is the only thing on my mind. If anything, you'll keep the belt between us. I can count on that."

Matt exhaled, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at the ground. "You _seriously_ need to go to some sort of counseling. You get friggin' psycho sometimes."

"That's a difference between you and I. You can control your anger. I just let it flow."

Orton kept on walking, leaving his little brother behind.

"You are **completely** missing the point ..."

* * *

The locker room door opened, revealing Matt with a bandage-wrapped head and Randy with a bandage-wrapped nose. Batista, Amy, and Eric were sitting in front of the monitor, watching Cena take on Triple H. Amy was the only one got up and checked on the brothers.

"You're not hurt _too_ badly, are you Randy? Just a broken nose, right?"

"Yeah. Matt just got knocked around a little. No concussion or anything though, so says the trainer."

"I'm lucky too", Matt added. "I really thought I had a concussion based on how dizzy and how blurry my vision was."

"Just go sit down. I don't want anything more to happen to you tonight."

Matt looked around the room for his wife, going back to the changing room and coming back empty-handed.

"Where's Camilla?", he asked, stumped. _"Why is she missing so often?"_

"She said she went to go get a couple of drinks from the concession", Eric said without turning his eyes from the monitor. "Said she was craving a Pepsi."

"How long has she been gone?"

"About 45 minutes. The line must be hell out there."

Matt grabbed a nearby bottle of water and chugged the thing down. Afterwards, he twisted the top off and began gnawing on it, looking at a single solitary brick on the wall. Randy snatched a bottle of water for his own and sat down beside his brother.

_"You don't think she's ..."_

_"... she's what?"_

_"... she didn't come with us to see Shawn that day in San Antonio. You don't think she was faking being sick, do you?"_

_"To tell you the truth, Lilian and I didn't really check on her. She even got up to go to the groceries to get herself some soup since we were out. Are you seriously thinking that she's doing something wrong?"_

_"Well ... sort of. I mean, she's never gone that often. Never gone **alone** that often, I mean."_

Randy slunk back flat against the wall. _"Remember the way she acted when we almost tore each other's heads off in front of her? To me, that seemed sincere. She's not cheating on you, bro. And this is coming from someone who thought that letting her back into your life was the biggest mistake you could ever make."_

_"You've been wrong before you know."_

"What the hell is your problem?"

Without realizing it, Randy belted this out loud, catching the attention of Dave, Amy, and Eric. Matt looked over at them and dragged his brother back to the changing room.

_"Sorry"_, Randy added. _"Didn't mean for that to happen. But what on Earth is making you think that she's cheating on you? You're always so goddamn pessimistic! You instantly see what's going to be the worst outcome and automatically assume that **that's** going to happen. Grow some courage and look on the bright side of things! Camilla is just out getting a couple of sodas! Get over yourself!"_

Matt shook his head and ignored his brother for a second. The pair walked back into the main room to see a giant-sized soft drink on the bench where they sat.

_"See?! I told you."_

"She just walked in and went over to the restroom.", Amy said. "Said she drank a whole extra-large before she even got to the door."

Matt's shoulders slunk down slightly and everyone could hear the deep breath he took. Grabbing his bag, he turned to the showers. As the door closed behind him, Amy went over and sat down next to Randy.

"I wanted to wait until Matt was out of the room before I said anything."

Randy's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, whoa ... don't tell me you think something's up too."

"Well ... I just noticed something when she came into the room. First, she was covered in sweat. She said that the air conditioner didn't seem to be working out near the concession stands. Then remember the big container of honey you gave your brother as a wedding gift? I saw the top part of it sticking out of her pocket. I could smell it too."

Randy was quick to close his thoughts off to his brother and Eric. "So what? She carries that thing around all the time because she wants to jump Matt whenever she can get her hands on him."

"That doesn't explain the sweat then. She doesn't have a match scheduled, and I _highly_ doubt the air conditioner isn't working out there near the concession stands. Arenas are usually near freezing! You know that! We all know that!"

Randy took another big swig from his bottle of water. "I think you're just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Camilla is doing nothing wrong."

At that moment, Camilla came out of the bathroom and exhaled happily. "Barely made it there. Whew!" She then sat down, grabbed her second Pepsi, and started sipping through the straw. "Did Matt go into the shower or something?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it...", Randy said, grabbing his bag, "... I need to wash off too. There's more than one shower in there, right?"

"There's three", answered back Dave, who was still too focused on the Cena/Triple H match.

"Curtained?"

"Yep. Now get your insecure ass in there before I shut your mouth for you."

Randy quickly spun around and entered the showers, not questioning Dave.

* * *

The rest of the night didn't go too swimmingly. Cena won his match against Triple H, but by disqualification; the referee managed to see Hunter land a low blow on John. Hunter then unleashed everything he had on Cena, destroying the world champ with heavy blow after heavy blow. It took Eric to run to the ring to get Triple H to stop. Eric's match against the Undertaker ended similarly; within 3 minutes of it beginning, Triple H came out and attacked Eric. Returning the favor, John ran down to make the save, but Triple H was prepared for such an attack; Hunter quickly Pedigreed John after a quick kick to the stomach. The Undertaker, however, delivered a chokeslam to Triple H, so the night wasn't a complete disaster.

Upon returning to the locker room, John and Eric took a minute to collect a couple of ice packs to sit down and rest with. With Raw nearing its end, the brothers decided it best to see if they could find a nice place to eat somewhere in town. While John and Eric started to clean themselves up, Randy and Matt threw on a light jacket and headed out into the immediate surroundings.

"So ... it _has_ to be somewhere we can get good grilled food, right?", Randy said. "I don't want to overload on carbs right now."

"Yeah ... but food is the last thing on my mind now. Remember how Austin said that we have to defend our tag titles next week? Who do you think we'll go up against?"

"If Austin has half a mind, he'll put us up against Christian and Jericho. That way, if Jericho really wants the tag titles, he can't get himself disqualified unless Austin makes it a no DQ match."

"You think he'll do something like that?"

"Nah. I think he would save a big match like that for a pay-per-view."

The two brothers quickly ducked behind a parked car to avoid some fans walking down the street. As much as they loved interacting with the WWE Universe, there were times where they just wanted to be a normal part of society. Luckily for them, a nice looking bar and grill was located just across the street from where they were hiding. Upon looking at a menu, Matt approved and Randy called the gang to let them know where they were. The brothers reserved a table for seven, ordered drinks, and started to look more closely on what they could have for dinner. Peering at the selection, Randy's eyes floated down to a rather large-sized sirloin steak, but he couldn't stop looking at a baked chicken dish. Matt had a taste for seafood that night, and was going back and forth between some grilled catfish or skewers of grilled shrimp. Randy's eyes went back to the sirloin at the top-right hand corner of the menu, but his eyes caught a familiar man with long, blonde hair seated alone a couple of tables away. Upon further investigation, Randy realized it was Edge.

_"Look behind you. Edge's sitting over there. Invite him over here; it doesn't look like he's gotten his food yet."_

After seeing Edge at his table, Matt smirked. _"Another member to the family, eh?"_

_"Matt, he's Canadian. Don't start talking like one."_

_"... shut up."_

The younger Orton slid out of his seat and walked over towards Edge. Edge heard someone walking up and picked up his fork, thinking it was the waiter. Upon seeing Matt, he sighed and shook his head.

"Listen, Edge, Randy and I just wanted to thank you for saving our behinds tonight. We owe you one. If you want to sit with ..."

"You don't owe me anything", Edge said tersely. Matt almost took a step back upon hearing Edge's tone of voice; it was almost caustic, as if Edge didn't want to be bothered at all. "Look, I know your group over there. You're all one big happy family, and that's all find and dandy with me. I'm not going to join your table over there. As a matter of fact, if you are here, I ... am ... out."

Edge then got up and headed straight for the door. Without knowing what else to say, Matt went back to sit down in front of his brother.

_"Something must be up his ass."_

_"He's probably just as pissed at Jericho as I am. It'll pass."_

_"He was fine until he noticed we were here."_

_"Okay ... so he's an angry loner. We won't bother with him anymore. Now put on a happy face or something. Everyone else is here."_

_

* * *

_

_- Matt decides to risk damaging his relationship with Camilla by asking her about what he and Amy noticed on Monday. If he's wrong ..._

_- Austin reveals who will challenge Randy and Matt for the World Tag Team Championships. Who will Stone Cold choose? And how will the news of the Elimination Chamber impact the feud?_

_Hope you liked it! _

_SuspiciousInitials_


	7. Real Emotion

_Thanks so much for the reviews so far! It makes me glad to see that people still follow this story after such a LONG time between updates._

_- Before an intimate moment, Matt decides to confront Camilla about the goings on of the last week or so._

_- The tag team title defense that the brothers were anticipating turns out to be much bigger than they anticipated. _

* * *

_"This has been just one of those weeks", _Matt thought to himself while changing into some comfortable shorts to go outside and lay in the sun. _"Monday was hard on us, and the WWE has nearly all of us bouncing around the United States like a ball in a pinball machine doing autograph signings, appearances, DVD release events ... It's been non-stop all damn week. It's already Sunday and this is the first and only time this week that we'll get to relax!"_

Randy and Lilian were out on a lunch date, leaving Matt & Camilla, Amy & Eric, Dave, and John at the Orton household. Dave and John were hitting the weights, Amy & Eric were doing some sort of cardio circuit (Matt couldn't remember what Eric had told him), and Camilla was outside swimming in the pool.

_"I guess I just have to applaud those guys. We've been at it all week, going to different gyms across the nation in addition to all the media crap that we've gone through ... and they're STILL working out? Jeez."_

Matt grabbed the sunscreen, walked down the stairs, and out onto the patio. Naturally, Camilla swam up to the side of the pool in anticipation of her husband, having a sly smile on her face.

"It's about damn time you get out here! I was about to go upstairs and throw your carcass out the window and into the pool! Now jump in!"

Orton wiggled the sunscreen bottle in front of Camilla. "You must be pretty riled up to forget about you doing this then!"

Camilla pulled herself out of the pool, snatched the sunscreen from Matt, pushed him down into a lounge chair, sat down on his lap, and squirted a large amount of sunscreen on Matt's chest, all in the matter of about 5 seconds.

"Uh ...", sputtered Matt, "... you're a _bit_ angry, aren't you?"

"A **_bit?!_** Matt, this is the longest time we've gone without making love and you've driven me completely insane! I can't stop thinking about it!", she replied while forcefully massaging the sunscreen into Matt's body.

"Whoa there! Not so hard!"

"I think about it constantly, I dream about it constantly! You haven't heard me moaning in my dreams? I _know _I've made enough noise to wake you up once or twice! Wait! I know!" Camilla quickly looked around. "Let's go for it right now! Right here!"

"Hold it! Hold it right there! You need to calm down, babe! I wanted to come out here and relax and talk to you and all you want to do is put on a show for the whole friggin' neighborhood to see! Get off me, sit down, and relax!"

Matt could see Camilla's breathing slacken over the next few seconds. She put her head down, took a deep breath, then looked Matt in the eyes. "... Sorry. I just get ... frustrated ... when I don't have sex every so often."

"After we talk, fine. We'll go up to the room, lock the door, and have all the fun we want. I just want to catch up on the last week or so. We haven't had a lot of time to spend with each other alone."

Camilla's smile popped right back on her face just before she unmounted Matt and sat down on a nearby lounge chair. Matt took a deep breath of his own and continued with his plan of action.

_"I must be crazy trying this right before she wants some ... _I've been having some thoughts lately. Why didn't you come to see Shawn with Amy and Eric not too long ago? You had been mentioning that it was something you've been looking forward to doing. Then you tell me you have a fever. You didn't even seem that sick. Did you just suddenly have a change of heart or something?"

Camilla's head started to tilt to the side and her eyes narrowed at Matt. Orton could sense bad things coming.

"No! You felt my forehead and it was warm. I had a 101 temperature. And wait a minute ... how is this 'catching up with me'? This feels more like an interrogation."

_"Fuck ... she can see right through me. I'm not a good actor. _Listen ... call me paranoid. But you stayed home when we went to go see Shawn. You weren't there in the locker room when I walked in last Monday. And now, whenever I want to see you, you're either out shopping or getting a bite to eat, and it takes you awhile to get home. You ... you really ARE doing those things, right?"

"What do you _think_ I'm doing? You _know_ I had a fever then. I was getting drinks on Monday. Our schedules are so hectic now that the WWE has you flying from city to city; finding some time together is going to be a little tougher than it used to be. You even said that yourself."

"Camilla ... I have to be honest with you. And given what you've done in the past ... I ..." It took a moment for Matt to collect his courage. When Camilla was mad, things could get physical very quickly ... and not the good 'physical'. "Maybe it's just me being paranoid. It crossed my mind that you might be ... sleeping with other men."

A few seconds passed. Camilla's glare never left Matt's face. Matt could notice her breathing get progressively heavier, along with her right fist slowly tightening. Matt sat up straight in his chair, anticipating a sudden move. The sound of the back door sliding open caught Matt's attention, and he looked back to see Randy and Lilian walking out to the backyard. But as soon as Matt realized that his eyes were off Camilla, he knew that he was in trouble. Matt sprung out of his chair and turned around with his arms poised to block a blow; however, Camilla remained in her chair, a single tear rolling down the side of her face.

_"Son of a bitch ..."_, Matt thought, his shoulders hanging down. "Camilla, I ..."

Camilla held up a hand to stop Matt. She wiped away the tear and looked up at her husband. "Sorry. I ... I just got reminded of what I did to you earlier this year. Matt, I know why you're suspicious, and you're just like that. It's your personality. But you _know_ I'm not going to leave you. Why would I when I have _this?_" Matt grunted a bit when Camilla used her right hand to grab Matt's crotch. Randy and Lilian stopped and turned right around to go back in the house once they saw this occurring. Matt's eyes narrowed and he quickly tore off Camilla's hand.

"Oh ... calm down. I didn't marry you just for the sex. We were made for each other, remember?"

"You know ... you _really_ have a problem when it comes to wanting sex every 5 minutes. You think about it more than most guys." Camilla giggled, but Matt's expression didn't change. "I'm serious. Listen, I'm sorry for accusing you of something that isn't true. But you are _addicted_ to sex! I want to send you to some sort of doctor or something ..."

"I'm _**not** _going to a doctor."

"Babe, you just told me that you get irritated when we don't have sex. You think about it all the time. You _don't think_ those are symptoms of sex addiction?"

"I'm **_NOT GOING_** to a doctor."

_"The Orton temper has certainly rubbed off on her._ Fine. Then I give you an ultimatum. No doctor means no sex."

_SLAP!_

Matt's face stung and he took a few steps back. By the time he looked up, Camilla had stomped all the way back inside and slid the door shut hard, shaking the whole backside of the house. Orton sat back down in the lounge chair and exhaled, rolling his eyes to the sky.

_"What the hell is her problem?"_

"Stings, doesn't it?", a female voice called out.

Matt looked to his side to see Amy walking in through the side door in the fence.

"I listened to the whole thing. First of all, I have to say that that wasn't the best way of going about things."

"Thanks for telling me now instead of _before_ that happened."

"There's no telling what that girl will do. Second of all, I don't believe a word she says."

"Do you and Camilla have a beef between each other or something? Your tone of voice towards her isn't seeming too pleasant."

"No. I'm trying to help you see through her. Eric told me what happened between you, her, and Randy at the Royal Rumble this year. Honestly, I still can't believe you took her back and that you married her."

"Why are you telling me this now? I thought everything was 'happy family' until you brought up what you observed last week."

"Women have instincts, Matt. Mine says that she's the kind of girl that will get to know the guys in the back, if you know what I mean."

"... so you think she's someone on the Raw roster?"

"Maybe more than one. Think about it. She wants it as often as possible. And what will she do when she's not with you, huh?"

"Amy, instinct isn't enough to convince me that Camilla is having an affair! And, frankly, I find it highly offensive that you're accusing her!"

"_Offensive_?! Matt, you were having the same suspicions not five minutes ago! Then Camilla works her verbal manipulative magic and you're all fine and dandy! I noticed how your conversation moved from her cheating on you to her addiction to sex in a split second. All she did was give you her alibi, nothing else. You didn't question it. Matt, you got your heart broken once already. I don't want that to happen again. She did what _no_ woman should ever do. And yet, you took her back! And not only did you take her back, you _fucking married her!_ You felt like I do now at first. Your brother felt like this before you convinced him that she was 'OK' in your mind. And now ..."

"Hold on! Hold on a damn fucking minute. You and Camilla have been alright with each other since before SummerSlam. You're just trying to fuck with our relationship!"

Amy didn't back down from Matt raising his voice. "I can appear nice and courteous on the outside, Matt. She had what I wanted: the Women's championship. And with us practically living under the same roof, I had to get used to her. But now things are getting worse. You're my fiancee's best friend. I want what's best for you. Get rid of her."

Amy spun around and left the same way she came. After the door was closed, Matt picked up the nearest lawn chair and slammed it down on the concrete, wanting to see pieces of it fly everywhere. The frame was then tossed against the fence with such force that a small hole was created in the wooden structure. His heart rate soaring, Matt threw the chair Camilla was sitting in up in the air, not paying attention where it would land. After a moment, the chair came down right beside Matt, close enough to have a part of the chair left a scratch all the way down his right arm. Gritting his teeth, Matt inspected the wound and was surprisingly calmed by the sight of the blood. His heart rate finally began to decrease to normal, and the adrenaline pumping through his body seemed to do so at a slower and slower pace.

_"Maybe **I'm** the one who needs to see a doctor."_

Unbeknownst to Matt, Camilla was watching him from the window of their bedroom the whole time. She smiled.

* * *

Camilla had sat down next to Matt on the plane trip to Atlanta, on the car ride to the arena, and in the locker room, but neither spoke much to each other. The same was true for Matt and Amy; Matt still wasn't sure if he could trust Amy after the conversation they had on Sunday. He had closed his thoughts off to Eric and Randy; he didn't want either of them rummaging through his luggage right now. Camilla had the Women's title over her shoulder; Matt had his half of the World Tag Team Championships around his waist. After slipping on his knee pads and bending over to lace up his boots ...

"I'm sorry."

"... sorry for what?"

"For slapping you."

"It's okay. You know you're still without until you see a doctor, right?"

"Yes."

"When will you go?"

"I don't know."

Matt looked over at Camilla, expect her and him and look at each other, kiss, and make up. But nothing of the sort occurred. Camilla continued to stare at the ground as she had been doing for the short conversation. Orton shook his head and headed over towards the door once Randy finished gearing up. He looked back one more time, but was denied again.

_"You two okay?"_

_"An argument. I accused her of cheating on me."_

_"Oh. Well ... **there's** the reason for that. Why the hell ..."_

_"I don't want to talk about it. Not now. Not before our match. My attitude's down the crapper already anyway."_

Randy shut his mouth and slapped Matt on the back, trying to bolster his spirits.

"Do we even know who we're facing?", Matt asked meekly.

"Hell if I know. If anyone, I'd wager Jericho and Christian. But you never know what Austin has up his sleeve."

Outside in the arena, the bell was rung to signal the introductions for the next match.

"The following contest ...", Lilian proudly belted into the microphone, knowing that she would see her fiance and her future brother-in-law soon, " ... is scheduled for one fall and it is for the World Tag Team Championships!"

"Burn In My Light" played and the two brothers strolled out to their first title defense, wearing matching red and black tights in tribute to the Atlanta Falcons. Randy showed his usual bravado, showing off his cocky smile to everyone. Matt, however, was more subdued; there was no smile on his face and the whole crowd could tell that there was definitely something going on in his head. Once in the ring, they posed together on the turnbuckle much like they did at SummerSlam.

**_BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!_**

Confirming Randy's earlier speculation, Chris Jericho and Christian strolled down the ramp and climbed into the ring. Randy and Matt stood firmly in front of Lilian, Matt keeping his hands firmly on his belt in case he needed to use it as a weapon. However, Randy also caught sight of a referee running down the ramp. The ref ran to the corner where Lilian was standing and whispered something in her ear.

"What's going on?", asked Randy, curious.

"You're not going to like this.", she said raising the microphone to her mouth. "I have just been informed that this match is now a Triple Threat Elimination match!"

"**_WHAT?!_**", both brothers rang out at once. "No More Words" immediately started to play, and Jeff Hardy stepped out onto the stage, doing his freaky little dance ... thing.

"Who the hell is his part..."

**_You think you know me..._**

* * *

_- Austin has thrown a rather large curveball towards Randy and Matt. Can the brothers successfully defend their coveted World Tag Team Championships for the first time?_

_- Eric puts it all on the line when he faces off against Triple H in a Last Man Standing match for an opportunity to be inserted into the World Championship match at Unforgiven._

_Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know how I'm doing!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	8. The 1st Struggle

_- All hell breaks loose as the Ortons face Chris Jericho & Christian and Jeff Hardy & Edge to defend their World Tag Team Championships. Can Randy and Matt turn chaos into control?_

_- Triple H has some nasty tricks up his sleeve for Eric. Can Eric manage to hang on and win the Last Man Standing match?_

_Here we go!_

* * *

_"Dude ... we're in one hell of a pickle now. Triple threat means ..."_

_"I know what the hell it means! No DQs. All six of us are going to be in here at once trying to take each other apart! We need a strategy. NOW!"_

_"Edge will probably go after Jericho. Hardy will go after you; you've got 'his' title, remember? I'll take care of Christian."_

Jeff and Edge slid into the ring, with Edge immediately going after Matt and Jeff going for Jericho.

_"Some strategy!"_

Matt wrestled Edge through the middle ropes and out to the floor. Jeff started to wail on Chris Jericho in one of the corners, delivering right hands to his face and knees to his stomach. Randy took one look at Christian and sent him scampering under the bottom rope to the floor. The older Orton chased after Christian, laughing to himself on how cowardly Christian was. However, upon seeing Christian flip the apron up, Randy realized that Christian was getting a weapon. Randy stood near a turnbuckle post, ready to confront Christian, who pulled out a pair of kendo sticks. Out of the corner of his eye, Randy spied his brother, nearly back to back with Christian, about to dodge one of Edge's spears. As Christian raised the kendo sticks to strike, Matt moved out of the way, and Edge ended up spearing Christian! Matt quickly grabbed Edge by the hair and the back of his tights and threw him head first into the nearest set of steel steps. Both Ortons turned their attention to the ring and saw Hardy on the turnbuckle, ready to execute the Swanton Bomb.

Matt scampered up the opposite turnbuckle while Randy grabbed one of the kendo sticks and slid into the ring. The cameras in the arena started to flash as Jeff leaped in the air and Randy charged up the stick like it was a baseball bat. Randy was on target as the stick smacked Jeff Hardy straight in the back. After Hardy rolled out of the way, Matt launched his own aerial assault, landing the Somersault Leg Drop on Jericho! Matt immediately got up and Orton posed to the crowd ... only to get speared by a recovered Edge. Clutching his stomach, Matt rolled out of the ring, leaving Randy in the ring with Edge. Orton took a swing, but Edge ducked and bounced off the ropes, landing another spear on another Orton. Edge went for the cover on Randy ...

"1 ... 2 ... "

Christian had emerged from the floor and interrupted the count, pulling Edge off of Randy by the hair. For a moment, the two brothers stared each other down in the ring, Christian not showing any of the earlier hesitation from last week towards Edge. The two then started exchanging punches, with Edge eventually getting the upper hand. He slingshotted Christian to the turnbuckle and lifted him onto the top rope. A superplex seemed imminent, but Jericho had gotten to his feet. Creeping behind Edge, he hooked his arm around Edge's neck and dropped him to the floor with a reverse DDT! Christian stabilized himself and turned around, looking to prepare a moonsault.

What Christian didn't know was that Matt was crouched down on the steel steps next to him. As Christian was about to fly, Matt leaped up, grabbed each side of Christian's head, and pulled it down, his face landing straight on the top turnbuckle. Eyes glazed over, Christian fell up and over the top rope, landing on the floor with a dull thud. Matt slid into the ring to stare down Chris Jericho, who was holding one of the kendo sticks. Matt smiled in the face of this danger because Randy was stalking Jericho from behind, readying an RKO. Randy took the time to warn Matt of another danger; Jeff was behind Matt with a steel chair in hand. Matt dodged yet again and let Jeff hit Jericho on the top of the head with the chair. As Jericho wobbled around, Randy leapt up and landed the RKO on Jericho! Matt threw the chair right in Hardy's face and attacked with a classic Orton drop kick. Hardy dropped the chair and stumbled right into yet another RKO! By this time, Edge was the only one who started to show any sort of life. Randy and Matt started to shove Jeff, Chris, and Christian out of the ring, waiting for Edge to get to his feet. With enough room to maneuver now, both Ortons were stalking Edge, waiting to land the finishing blow. Once Edge turned around, Randy and Matt started the motion for the double RKO, but Edge quickly slipped out of the ring. Backing up the ramp, Edge watched as Randy lugged Christian's body back into the ring, and Matt set up the Texas Cloverleaf. Randy stood guard as Matt leaned back as hard as he could. With Christian tapping out, Randy posed in the middle of the ring, his gaze never leaving that of Edge's.

"Here are your winners and _**STILL**_ the World Tag Team Champions, Matthew and Randy Orton!"

Edge stood at the top of the ramp, leering down at the two brothers who raised their championships high in the air. But the sound of glass shattering interrupted the celebration. Randy and Matt already knew what was coming, but no one else did.

"Now, boys, that was just a warm-up match! You see, two weeks from now at Unforgiven, we're gonna have ourselves a 6-way match for the Intercontinental Championship! Both Ortons, Edge, Hardy, Christian, and Jericho. But those won't be any plain ole' match. This will be an **Elimination Chamber** match!"

Edge looked back at the two men standing in the ring and smiled.

* * *

"I just remembered something", Matt said to Randy as they were walking back to the locker room, tag team belts still in tow. "Jeff isn't going to be too happy about what happened to his chance at the Intercontinental Championship. And you aren't going to be too happy when I take that belt away from you at Unforgiven."

"I'll be fine as long as I lose it to you. No one else.", Randy replied, not responding to the usual verbal stab from his brother. "I still haven't really got my hands on Jericho yet. One RKO doesn't equal the pain he put us and Lilian through."

"Mind you, we did kinda rough him up a little beforehand. And by 'rough him up', I mean broke his face and left him to rot in the hallways."

"... That _still_ doesn't equal what he did to us. This isn't over by a long shot. You feel like hitting the weights hard when we get home? That might be the only way I can control my anger now."

"You want to control it?", Matt said, scoffing. "_That's_ a first. But yeah. I'm down. I need to put on the weight I lost."

"I'll join you guys too".

The brothers looked up and realized that Eric was walking towards them; it was still a little difficult to recognize Barringer in his new outfit.

"You be careful out there", Matt said, giving Eric a slap on the shoulder. "Remember what happened the last time you were in one of these types of matches? _And_ I had to answer a five-count instead of a ten-count."

Eric's arm tensed up a little, wanting to slug Matt in the face. "Now, you _know_ I would have won if Randy hadn't come down to the ring with you. I'll make sure I don't mess up again."

"In all seriousness", Randy added, playing the big brother, "Triple H is way more experienced than either of us, and he knows how to use that sledgehammer. Don't act like a fool and wait for him to mess up. He won't. Do you want us waiting by the curtain in case things get hairy?"

"No. You two take Amy and Camilla and go out to eat or something. I don't want any of you worrying about me. If anything, Dave and John have my back. Triple H wants to get involved in our business? We'll send him packing."

"_Our_ business?", questioned Matt. "Dave's the only one who has earned a match for the World title so far."

"If anyone deserves another match for the World title, it's me. You forget, Orton, I beat Cena twice before he became World champ. Batista hasn't ..."

"Okay, okay. Jeez. You can tell you're getting fed up with people when you only refer to them by their last names. Just don't let your guard down out there." Randy and Matt made a quick exit, no longer wanting to agitate Eric.

"I hope he'll be alright", Randy mentioned quietly, not wanting Eric to hear. "Going up against you in that type of match is one thing; going up against Triple H is a whole different animal."

Outside in the arena, Lilian looked up to see a sledgehammer hanging above her. The countless ladders scattered around the ramp and the ring made this Monday night seem like a Sunday night.

"The following contest is a #1 contender's Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship! The only way to win is to make your opponent unable to answer a ten count!"

"You're Not Here" started to play over the loudspeaker, causing nearly everyone in the arena to jump to their feet. Eric walked out onto the stage and was all business, only stopping to high five one or two fans on the way to the ring. Eric had been the victim of a sledgehammer shot one too many times; tonight was the night to reverse that. Barringer looked at the ladders around him, picking out the tallest one of the bunch. That one would be his first weapon.

_**It's time to play the game...**_

Triple H came strolling out onto the stage with something in his hand. Instead of the usual water bottle, Hunter was holding his own sledgehammer. Eric slid under the bottom rope to grab the ladder he was eyeing, prompting Hunter to start running down the ramp. Lilian quickly got the hell out of Dodge and retreated to her seat as Eric reacted just as swiftly; Eric picked up the ladder and rammed the head of it into Triple H's shoulder as Hunter was running up to him, causing Hunter to drop the sledgehammer. Barringer then shoved that same shoulder into the nearby ring post, bringing Hunter to his knees. For the third strike on Hunter's shoulder, Eric then grabbed and shoved Triple H shoulder first into the steel ring steps.

_"Don't get too cocky! Keep your guard up and keep the pressure on Hunter!"_

Eric rolled his eyes and glared in the direction that he could sense Randy and Matt in.

_"I thought I told you two to get out of here and enjoy yourselves!"_

_"And have your match on our minds the entire time? We wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves much."_

Barringer picked up Triple H and slid him and one of the short ladders in the ring. Eric took the time to lean the ladder against one of the turnbuckles, making sure it would stay even after impact. With Triple H slowly getting to his feet, Eric whipped him into the opposite turnbuckle to the ladder. After a few stiff kicks to the midsection, Eric started the motion to whip Hunter into the turnbuckle with the ladder. However, Hunter reversed the whip and sent Eric running into the turnbuckle! Barringer fell to one knee, one hand covering his face and one protecting his chest. Triple H immediately dropped to the floor and retrieved the sledgehammer that he brought to the ring. Eric managed to look back and performed a sliding kick to Triple H's head just as he was sliding back into the ring! Hunter fell limp; and his bodyweight caused him to slip back out onto the floor. Eric heard the referee start to count and took a look high above him at the second sledgehammer. Without giving it a second thought, Barringer scurried to unfold the ladder he used earlier and set it up under the hanging weapon.

_"What the hell are you doing?!", _thought Randy. _"Just get the one Triple H dropped!"_

_"Nah ... that would be too easy. It's Hunter's way out. I'm better than that. I'll earn what I need to win this match."_

Backstage, Randy and Matt looked at each other and shrugged. Back in the ring, Eric was starting to regret using one of the shorter ladders; he was having to stand on the very tip top of the ladder to reach the clasp holding the sledgehammer. Barringer could hear the crowd's volume go increasingly higher as the seconds passed; instinctively, Eric looked down and gasped, seeing Triple H about to tip over the ladder.

_"I guess I know what Matt felt like now ..."_ Eric grabbed hold of the whole wire suspending the hammer up in the air as the ladder tipped and fell over the top rope. Looking down, Eric saw Triple H looking right back up at him. Immediately, an idea surfaced; Eric continued to try to unclasp the sledgehammer with one hand and was successful! However, instead of keeping it, Eric threw it down at the Game, aiming straight for his head. Triple H was lucky enough to dodge the hit to his head; instead, he took the full force of the blow on the shoulder Eric was attacking earlier. As soon as Eric let go of the sledgehammer, he grabbed back onto the wire, still barely clinging on.

"1 ... 2 ... 3 ..."

Barringer looked down to see the referee counting as well as Triple H grabbing his shoulder, shrieking out in pain. But no matter what pain Hunter seemed to be in, he was slowly getting to his feet. Eric remembered how Matt tried to get out of his predicament earlier in the year at No Way Out, but preferred not to have the same thing happen to him; Matt complained of his back twinging every so often from that hard bump. Looking down, Triple H was the only thing that could break his fall.

An idea.

Hunter was on one knee now, still agonizing over his injured shoulder. If something wasn't broken, it was certainly heavily bruised or sprained; Eric could see swelling on the whole of Hunter's right side of his upper body. Not letting Triple H have the opportunity to look up, Eric aimed for that bad shoulder and let go.

"Holy shit ...", both brothers muttered under their breath. In the locker room, Amy let out a shriek and buried her eyes under her hands. Even Dave and John jumped at seeing Eric let go of the wire.

The back of Eric's leg made first impact right on the bad shoulder of Triple H. Hunter immediately fell to the floor, flopping around like a fish out of water and yelping like an injured puppy. Eric wasn't too much better; he was gripping the back of his leg, sucking air through his teeth. Seeing Triple H the way he was though, gave him enough satisfaction to ignore whatever was going on in his body. Eric rolled out of the ring after hearing the referee start his count, and soon was looking around for one of the sledgehammers.

"4 ... 5 ... 6 ..."

Hobbling around the floor, Eric found the sledgehammer that Triple H brought to the ring. Backstage, Randy and Matt could feel the seething hate radiate off of Eric's person, something that they have felt on each other, but never on Eric.

"... 7 ... 8 ... "

_"If I walk in now, he'll stop counting", _Eric thought to himself.

"... 9 ..."

_"Once the 10-count is up"_, Matt thought to Randy, _"Eric's going to go ballistic on Hunter! Do we __**really**__ want to see that brutality? Hunter's a conniving asshole, but no one deserves that sort of punishment."_

_"I kinda do. We really haven't seen much of this side of Eric before. Besides, you need to learn to embrace your inner Orton. Let go of some of the restrictive crap you were brought up with. Let Eric tear this son-of-a-bitch apart."_

"... 10!"

"Here is your winner, and the new #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, Eric Barringer!"

Barringer started to climb up the steps slowly, eyeing Triple H like some hungry tiger would bear down on a piece of steak at a zoo. Sledgehammer in hand, Eric started to enter the ring again, but was held back by the referee; paramedics were already coming down the ramp and trainers had already rushed to Triple H's side. His chance at inflicting as much pain and destruction as Hunter did on Shawn was gone. With the adrenaline going down, Eric also started to realize that nagging pain on the back of his leg. Randy and Matt ran down to the side of the ring and helped their comrade down to the floor.

"This isn't over", Eric said out loud, only barely audible due to the crowd. "When he comes back ... Hunter still has some unfinished business with me."

"Right now", Randy added, "I think you need to calm down and rest. You kicked ass out there."

"Hanging on for dear life isn't quite what you thought it would be, huh?", Matt said jokingly.

* * *

_- Unforgiven is just around the corner. How will Jeff Hardy react that his one-on-one chance at the Intercontinental Championship is now gone?_

_- Who will Matt believe: Amy or Camilla?_

_- When Cena accidently leaves the World Heavyweight title in the locker room, Randy takes a long look at it._

_(__**A/N**__: You may have wondered why I took Triple H out. To be truthful, I'm realizing how stale this series could become if I use and re-use the same characters over and over again. That's why HBK/HHH were removed from the main plot of the story and Edge/J. Hardy now figure more prominently. Expect a few more changes in the roster of the story to come in the near future.)_

_Hope you enjoyed this one! And don't be afraid to review and let me know how horrible/great I'm doing!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	9. Beyond the Door

_- With Triple H out of the way, the World Heavyweight Championship match at Unforgiven is now a Triple Threat match between John, Dave, and Eric. Randy and Matt seem to be torn between the three ... quite literally. Can they handle being bombarded for help from all three sides?_

_- When it's time to head back to Monday Night RAW, Stone Cold Steve Austin tells the whole roster of the pros and cons of making trades with Friday Night SmackDown!_

_- Camilla is nowhere to be found ... yet again._

_(__**A/N: **__Video game fans might be starting the notice the subtle/not-so-subtle references to various games in my story. If you can find the pattern ... well ... I'll leave that to you to find out.)_

_Here we go!_

* * *

Luckily for the family, this week wasn't a big media week for the WWE. The whole gang managed to have the week at the Orton household, with everyone doing their own thing during the day. With Unforgiven coming up, Batista, Cena, and Barringer had stopped working out together; the sense of competition and one-upping each other had increased enough that each man started to focus on the match on their own.

**4:00 AM**

Matt had fallen asleep on the couch. Not of his own choosing, however. The relationship between himself and Camilla had not improved, and Camilla locked the bedroom door Tuesday night after Matt hopped in the shower. Matt reluctantly took refuge on the couch under a small throw blanket. Someone's hand pushed on the side of Matt's head repeatedly, trying to wake him up.

"... wha?", Matt said, his eyes getting adjusted to the darkness of the night. "Who the hell ... Dave? Why on earth are you up this early?"

"Come train with me", he replied. "Need someone to focus with. Muay thai stuff."

"Fuck ... Dave, you know I hate that."

"I don't care. I need you for this every morning until Unforgiven. I made you a quick breakfast over there along with a protein shake. Get moving."

"_**Every morning?!**_Are you insane?!"

"You have just as big a match as I do at Unforgiven. Now get your ass moving before I move it for you."

Matt rolled his eyes ... then rolled off the couch. "Ok, alright ... give me ten minutes. Let me eat."

"Five. Hurry up. Oh, and wake your brother up too."

"Oh, **hell** no. If you want him, you go get him. If I go wake him up, he'll bash my face in for doing it so early."

Dave's eyes glared at Matt before he started walking up the stairs. Matt rolled off the couch and devoured the bowl of oatmeal, the banana, and the protein shake as he heard a loud couple of knocks above him. By now, Lilian was used to Dave waking the boys up early. As expected, Matt heard another loud thud: Lilian rolling Randy out of bed. A minute or two later, Dave came quickly down the stairs and headed off towards the weight room. Randy, on the other hand, slowly trudged down the stairs, and turned towards his brother. Matt pointed to Randy's breakfast and shrugged.

_"Is he serious? Every goddamn morning until Unforgiven?"_

_"Apparently so. Just eat and let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep."_

**9:00 AM**

The brothers came in from the weight room and sat down on the floor next to the couch; they were tired enough not to be able to make it to the couch's soft seats. The house was abuzz now; Eric and John were having breakfast, Amy and Lilian were looking in the pantry for something to eat, Dave was walking to the guest house to shower, and ...

"Where's Camilla?"

Everyone looked up and shrugged. Matt's eyes narrowed as he glanced over at Amy, who shook her head and went back to what she was doing.

_"I'm going to go change", _Matt thought to Randy. _"Working out in your boxers isn't the best thing to do. Fix me a protein shake, would ya?"_

Randy nodded as Matt started gingerly up the stairs, his legs still weak from the workout Dave put him and his brother through. Getting to his door, he guessed that Camilla was still asleep and that the door would still be locked. Getting to the door, Matt was about to reach out and turn the knob when the door opened suddenly. Camilla stood in the doorway, eyeing Matt's body.

"Dripping with sweat and in your boxers?", she asked suggestively. "What type of message is this supposed to send me?"

"Well, if you wouldn't have locked me out of the room last night, I would have been able to workout in proper clothing. Can I just grab some clothes so I can go jump in the shower?"

"You're missing my point, babe."

"And you're forgetting what I told you last week. No sex."

"Oh ... come on! Even _you_ have to be jonesing for it! Besides, after a week off, it'll be even better than ever for you!"

"Forget it, Camilla."

_"Hey ... can you help me out?"_

_"Yeah ... sure. Give me a sec. _Camilla, can I please ..."

A pair of black windpants and a black pair of boxerbriefs came flying into Matt's face, along with the slamming of the bedroom door. Matt heard the lock turn, and rolled his eyes accordingly. He didn't know whether to break down the door in anger or turn around and quietly walk away. Remembering Eric's question for help, Matt stepped in a nearby bathroom, dried himself off, changed into the new clothes, and headed downstairs. To his dismay, Eric was standing in the hallway that led to the weight room. Randy was too, holding a shaker bottle in both hands. He tossed one to Matt, who quickly gulped down the protein drink.

"I need you two to lift with me. Get my adrenaline running. Weak-ass over here", he said, pointing to Randy, "says you're already too tuckered out, but I really need this, man. Come on."

The last bit of Eric's sentence almost sounded like he was begging for it. Matt looked over to Randy, only to see his brother shake his head.

"You know", Matt began, "we really only did a whole bunch of heavy cardio with Dave. Can you give us ..."

"_**Us?!**_ Fuck that, Matt. I'm showering."

Before either Eric or Matt could protest, Randy was already at the top of the stairs, heading to his room.

"I'm not 100 percent", Orton said, "but I'll be there. Give me 10-15 minutes for me to rest and I'll be in there."

"Dude!", Eric said pounding fists with his best friend. "I knew I could count on you. I'll go in there and warmup while you rest."

_"You have to be kidding me if both Dave and Eric are going to be wanting us to workout with them in the morning every single day. It's either one or the other ... not both."_, Randy thought to Matt.

_"You take Dave and I take Eric?"_

_"So why do __**I**__ have to wake up at 4:00 in the damn morning?"_

_"Fine ... fine ... I'll bite the bullet. Goddamn crybaby."_

_"Fuck you, dude."_

Matt sat down next to John at the dining room table and leaned back, trying to catch his breath in the few minutes he had before going back into the weight room to lift with Eric. John took a few big whiffs and held his nose.

"Bro, it's called deodorant. Use it."

"Man, you don't even know what kind of work Dave has put me through for the last 4 or 5 hours. And it ain't better with Camilla locking me out of the bedroom. Lay off, okay?"

"Sorry, dude. Listen ... I need someone..."

"Let me guess. You need a lifting partner."

"Well ... yeah", John said, surprised. "How'd you know? You can't read _my_ mind now, can you?"

"No ... no, I can't. I don't think I would ever want to." Matt took in a deep breath before uttering his next sentence. "When do you want to lift and what are you working on?"

"Eh ... about 4:00-5:00 in the evening. Gonna do quads and hams today."

_"What are you working on today?"_, Matt thought to Eric.

_"Chest and tri's!"_

"My central nervous system is going to be fried ...", Matt muttered to himself. "Fine ... but I'll be napping from when I'm done with Eric. Wake me up about 3:00 PM."

"... You're helping out, Eric?", John replied, with a funny look on his face.

"Don't pull any of that crap. I'm helping Dave out too, so don't act like I'm being partial to anyone."

* * *

Matt groaned as he put on his tights for the night's events; the taxes his body endured from all the physical activity during the week overwhelmed him on Sunday. He collapsed on the couch right after his workout with John and didn't wake up until right before it was time to leave for RAW. On the trip over to the arena, Randy belittled his little brother; if they were to defend their tag team titles and lost, Randy would never let Matt live it down. He looked at himself in the mirror, and could almost see the effects. His muscles weren't as full as they usually were, and the amount of water his body retained went down significantly.

"Signs of overtraining", he mumbled to himself. "I'm not doing this again."

Since they were in Los Angeles, the brothers wore dark purple with bright yellow lettering to match that of the Lakers. Randy walked in after knocking.

"You might want to see this. Jeff is giving everyone a piece of his mind."

Matt poked his head out of the changing room to see the monitor. In the ring, Jeff Hardy had a microphone in hand.

"Now ... _my_ match at Unforgiven was supposed to be _one-on-one_. _My_ match was supposed to be against _only_ Randy Orton. _Now?_ I've got four other people bogging me down and it's in the Elimination Chamber! Orton, Jericho, Edge, and Christian have no business messing up _my_ match! Austin ...", Jeff said after turning to the TitanTron, "... I am _demanding_ that you change the match back!"

It didn't take long for the General Manager to come out and stand toe-to-toe with Jeff Hardy in the ring.

"Now look here, son. You better be damn appreciative that I'm still giving you the opportunity to go for that title!"

The rest was a blur to Matt once he realized something was odd.

"Where's Camilla?"

Just like earlier in the week, everyone shrugged.

_"She's fucking cheating on me ... she has to be. I don't give a shit if I'm being overly paranoid. It's just my gut feeling. The way she's been acting towards me all because I won't give it to her ..."_

Without telling anyone and ignoring questions from Randy and Eric, Matt walked out of the locker room and started to look around. Orton felt like banging doors down and looking for Camilla, but wondered what the consequences would be if he were to barge into someone's locker room unexpectedly.

_"I don't need to pummeled beyond belief right before a match."_

Luckily for him, the first door he came upon was wide open. Peeking in, it seemed as if it were nearly empty, except for one bag on a nearby bench. He could hear the shower running in the background, and decided to snoop around to see if he could figure out the owner of the bag.

But that's when he heard voices. And not Randy or Eric.

A male voice was coming from the shower. Matt froze up, wondering if he should make a dash for the door. As the voice grew louder, Matt thought that the person was coming out of the shower. Orton looked around and saw a locker big enough for him to fit in.

But that's when he heard another voice. A different voice.

A female voice.

He knew that voice.

It was Camilla.

In the home locker room, Randy and Eric both felt a powerful sense of rage and hatred fill the whole room almost instantly. Both leapt off their feet and ran out in search of Matt, with Randy turning left and Eric turning right.

Matt, meanwhile, momentarily took his focus off who was in the shower to the contents of the bag.

_"If I could just find out who this is ... this fucking __**bastard**__ ..."_

A pair of hands turned Matt around, and Orton reared a fist back to strike. However, he stopped, seeing the visage of his brother.

_"We have to get out of here now before you do something stupid!"_

_"But you know she's in there! Camilla's in that fucking shower screwing some other guy!"_

_"With the way you're acting right now, you'll kill both of them! Move! Now!"_

Randy ended up forcing his brother out of the locker room, hoisting Matt onto his shoulders like John does for a FU. Matt didn't leave without a fight, elbowing Randy in the head numerous times. Randy held on enough to get Matt out of the mystery locker room and into his own. Dave and John helped subdue Matt, with Amy wondering what the hell was going on. Dave took it upon himself to end the situation, and punched Matt square in the stomach, ending Matt's resilience. After a bit of coughing, Matt returned to his senses and stood on his own.

"Amy ... I'm sorry for not taking you seriously. Tonight just solidified it for me."

Amy grinned and grabbed the Women's championship belt laying next to her. "Just leave her to me."

Matt took one last deep breath before picking up his half of the World Tag Team Championship.

"No one wants to get in the ring with me tonight. Randy ... I doubt even your anger against Jericho could top mine right now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"The following contest is a six-man tag team match, and it is scheduled for one fall!"

Dave, Eric, and John could hear Lilian announcing the beginning of their match. Jericho, Christian, and Jeff Hardy were their opponents for the night; Austin paired Hardy with Jericho and Christian as punishment for his tirade earlier in the night. The added stipulation was that if Hardy's team loses, all three of them would be heading to SmackDown after Unforgiven.

"Ah hell ...", John said, "... I'm a damn fool. I left the belt in the room. Hold on."

"You better run like hell, John", Eric said. "We have like ... 30 seconds max."

Matt could see Randy out of the corner of his eye holding a belt, but it wasn't the World Tag Team Championship. It was the World Heavyweight Championship.

"One day, Matt. One day. One day I'll hold this on my shoulder. One day you'll have this around your waist."

"Remember what we promised each other that day in the dining room? We would hold the World Tag Team Championships, the Intercontinental Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship all at the same time."

"The only problem is deciding who would get the big one."

"You."

Randy looked at his little brother, and was about to protest, but was interrupted.

"No ... you've mentored me since the beginning. You've taught me more about the business and more about life then I would have ever learned on my own. With what happened before, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future, you can trust that I will make the right decisions. You deserve something like that. I'll eventually get my shot. You first."

"Did you get that from a movie script or something?"

"Shut the hell up."

"Guys ...", came an out-of-breath Cena from the doorway, "... toss me my belt!"

Randy reluctantly threw the belt to John, and the champ took off running.

"I'm calling it right now", Randy said as John's footsteps echoed off into the distance. "At WrestleMania XX, Randy Orton will be the World Heavyweight Champion."

* * *

_- Matt stands at the locker room door, ready to hear the explanation that Camilla has this time. Amy, on the other hand, doesn't wait for her to come back.__  
_

_- Just six days out from Unforgiven, Stone Cold has one last test for the brothers._

_There we go. Hope you enjoyed this one! Don't forget to let me know how I'm doing!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	10. Exile

_Again, thank you for the reviews so far! _

_- A last minute big tag team match ... perhaps one that __**should**__ have been on a pay-per-view ... for the World Tag Team Championships put Randy and Matt on edge, wondering if they can retain their gold._

_- Last time, Matt made a promise to Randy to make the right decisions concerning his future. When the gang gets back home, will Matt be able to follow through?_

_We're in the double digits when it comes to chapters now! Here we go!_

* * *

Randy was following the six-man tag match very closely; if Dave, John, and Eric won, it meant that Jericho would be gone from RAW for good **and** he would have one more shot to destroy Jericho at Unforgiven in the Elimination Chamber. Matt, on the other hand, could have cared less; he had taken the time to stuff his gym bag with everything soft he could find to create a makeshift punching bag. After hanging it from the ceiling, Orton was delivering to it a rapid volley of punches and kicks.

"So much for your central nervous system being fried, eh?", Randy yelled back to Matt while still keeping his eyes on the match.

"It's amazing what a little adrenaline can do to your system. But I'll probably pass out on the drive back to the hotel."

"Better not use it all right now punching that bag. Don't you want to interrogate Camilla when she gets back?"

"Oh, don't worry about that", came Amy's voice, interrupting the conversation. "I'm going to make her wish she could keep that libido of hers under control. You know she did this because you stopped having sex with her, right?"

Matt delivered one powerful roundhouse kick to the improvised punching bag before answering. "Yeah ... I know. She did it purely out of spite. And I know what's going on in her little mind. She thinks the sex is completely separated from the main part of what _was_ our relationship. Maybe in her mind it is ... but mine ... no. I was not brought up to be a 'ladies man' ...", Matt glared over at Randy, "... completely the opposite, in fact. Sex is an intimate part of an intimate relationship. I don't want into the details of what I think about it because this one over here ...", Matt pointed to Randy, "... will give me a hard time about it for a while."

"Well ... here's what I want you to do, Matt", Amy began. "You try as best you can to put this in the back of your mind for now. I know it may be hard for you, but I've been waiting to let the little tigress that I've been keeping in a cage on that little wench for a long time now."

Randy looked strangely at Amy, his eyes . Matt looked over and said, "It's a metaphor, dummy."

Amy giggled a bit before continuing. "She's going to be coming for me at Unforgiven. I can feel it. Especially when she finds out that you know about her now. She still has her rematch clause, and she'll use it when she finds out she no longer is welcome with us. You _did_ sign a prenuptial agreement, right?"

"Yep. I'm safe there."

"Just let me handle her for now. You guys go about your business."

Matt motioned to Randy to follow him, and each grabbed their respective belts. Randy's eyes were on the monitor even as his body left the room. The pair decided to wait just behind the curtain; their match was supposed to be right after the current one.

"They better win that match. That way, Unforgiven can be a send off for those two little pricks."

"What about Jeff?", Matt asked. "I wouldn't want him to leave."

"Why not? I still don't 100 percent trust him after the crap he put us through."

"You know ...", Matt said after shaking his head, "... you've got serious trust issues. You know how many times you've flip-flopped on trusting people?"

"Well ... I just follow my gut when things like this happen. And sometimes, your gut can be wrong. I was wrong in the case of Camilla being faithful, and I was wrong, at least so far, in the case of Dave not going berserk on us again."

"At least I know I can trust you."

As the two approached the curtain, Dave, John, and Eric all came out from behind it. Dave was clutching his eye, John his back, and Eric his stomach. Each man had a look of disgust on their faces. Collectively, the brothers' shoulders sunk down in disappointment.

"You lost?!", Randy semi-whined. "How in the hell ..."

"_**Chill, Orton!**_", Dave exclaimed, the volume of his voice making everyone jump. "They cheated. Jericho used some brass knuckles on me and knocked me out cold when the ref had his back turned. Hardy then rolled me up." Dave removed his hand from his eye to reveal a nasty shiner. "Hardy was acting just as underhanded as Christian and Jericho were."

Matt's head tilted to the side. "Say what? I thought Jeff was past that."

"Apparently not", added Randy, flashing a 'I told you so' look over to his brother. "So ... everything's cool between you guys? You didn't have any trouble working together out there?"

"Of course not, bro!", John said sarcastically, then rolled his eyes. "Of course we did! I just want Sunday to get here and leave. This tension between us guys isn't helping any. I think it's pretty damn amazing that we've managed to remain so tight over the last few months considering what's happened."

Eric and Dave nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think it's time you guys went to get patched up", added Matt. "We'll get this ship back on track when we clean the clocks of whomever walks to the ring tonight."

"It's nice to have a match that's not against someone you want to rip the head off of", Randy added. "We'll finally get to show everyone out there how we operate when we're not hell-bent on destroying our opponents."

Eric, John, and Dave all wished the brothers good luck before walking back to recover from their match. Randy and Matt continued to the curtain and stood behind it, waiting for their cue to go onstage.

"Who do you think it could be?", Matt asked. "The Dudleys? Test and Steiner? Hell, even RVD and Tommy Dreamer might come to challenge us. I hear ever since we won the belts, they've been itching for a real match."

"I don't know. I've heard that the Hurricane has tagged up with Rosey from Three-Minute Warning. Now Rosey's wearing this dumb superhero outfit too. Plus, Benjamin and Haas want a shot at us too."

"It's like the whole locker room wants a shot at us. Of course, we wouldn't have it any other way, right?"

"Of course! This is only the start."

'Burn in My Light' started to play, and the brothers walked out onto the stage.

"The following contest is a Tag Team Turmoil match and it is for the World Tag Team Championships!", Lilian announced to the world.

The normal Orton pose was cut short. Both brothers looked at each other, each with eyes wide open and eyebrows raised to the rafters.

_"What the hell is a Tag Team Turmoil match?"_, Matt asked.

_"Sort of like a Gauntlet match. Two teams start out. The team that wins faces another team. This continues until all the teams have competed. Last one standing is the winner."_

_"So ... we have to go through 2 or 3 teams?"_

_"Maybe even more than __**that**__."_

_"Holy shit ..."_, Matt thought as they walked into the ring. He could see Lilian mouth the words "I didn't know" as Randy turned around to face the stage. There was no Orton posing on the turnbuckle tonight; it was highly likely that the brothers would lose their championships if they didn't take every single man that walked down that ramp seriously.

Matt could see a different look on Randy's face as the first team walked down the ramp. Randy was blocking out all the noise in the arena: the crowd roaring, the theme music, even Lilian's voice. His fists clenched, along with every single muscle in his arms. Randy looked to be grinding his teeth and increasing his rate of breathing, freaking Matt out a little.

_"They're __**mine**__", _thought Randy to Matt. With Randy acting the way he was, Matt stepped out onto the apron. He finally realized who their opponents were: La Resistance. As soon as the bell rang, Randy lunged at the man on the apron, knocking whomever it was off. Randy threw a stiff punch to the stomach, bounced off the ropes, and delivered an RKO! Randy ran over and extended a hand for a tag, surprising Matt. A moment went by, Matt not moving because of the swift strength Randy displayed. Snapping to attention, Matt made the tag, and Randy rolled out of the ring to stop the outside man from interfering. The younger Orton scrambled over to the top turnbuckle and launched himself in the air with his Somersault Leg Drop!

"1, 2, 3!"

Not a minute had passed and one team was already eliminated. Randy slid back in the ring and slapped Matt on the back.

_"Dude ... you looked like you were going to rip his damn head off!"_

_"I just psyched myself up. That's all. You should do it too."_

Another familiar team started to walk down the ramp. Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley. Not to be outdone, Matt launched his own early assault, leaping up and over the top rope in a suicide dive! Orton crashed straight into Bubba Ray, missing D-Von, who had dodged that human bullet. Randy followed suit ... sort of. He threw himself down in a baseball slide, aiming for D-Von. D-Von, however, dodged this as well, and drug Randy out to the floor by the feet, causing Randy's head to bounce off the floor. Matt had sprung up to his feet to defend Randy, but D-Von met Matt with a vicious clothesline, sending Matt's head bouncing off the floor as well! Bubba Ray had gotten to his feet as well, and both Dudleys picked up Matt and rolled him into the ring. D-Von signaled for the 3-D while Orton was stumbling to his feet, and the Dudleys successfully hit their finisher!

"1, 2, th..."

The count was interrupted by a diving older brother. Randy pulled himself to his feet and slid into the center of the ring, just barely stopping the count in time. The ref pulled Randy off of the pile and forced him back into his corner while D-Von brought Matt over to his corner, starting a volley of punches to the chest and stomach. Bubba Ray made the tag in and tossed Matt overhead with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Bubba Ray tagged D-Von back in, and D-Von executed a standing splash, crushing Matt's upper torso. Randy watched in agony as his brother struggled to breathe, and reached his hand out, calling out to Matt to make the tag. D-Von tagged Bubba Ray again, and this time Bubba Ray carried a limp Matt all the way over to a turnbuckle. Lifting him up to the top, Bubba Ray looked to be setting up a superplex.

Matt, however, had different plans. As Bubba Ray was climbing up, Matt threw a simple uppercut to the chin, dizzying his opponent, who then fell to the mat. A groggy Matt lowered himself to the mat, stumbled over to his brother, and made the tag! Randy came in and swooped down on Bubba Ray like a hawk, striking each appendage with a strong stomp.

_"You alright?"_, Randy thought to Matt while stomping on Bubba Ray's ankle.

_"I'm fine ... just give me a few seconds. My chest is killing me ..."_

Randy maneuvered Bubba Ray to his feet and whipped him to the ropes for a clothesline, but was reversed! As Randy bounced off the ropes, his brother slapped his back, counting as a tag. Randy ducked Bubba Ray's clothesline, immediately turned around, and threw a wicked-sounding punch to Bubba Ray's temple. This sent Bubba Ray stumbling right into an MKO from the younger Orton! D-Von stepped into the ring to stop the count, but Randy was there to stop that.

"1, 2, 3!"

_**BREAK THE WALLS DOWN**_...

Randy and Matt looked at who was coming down the ramp in disbelief; Chris Jericho and Christian were coming towards the ring.

_"They just ... no way ... no fucking way _...", Matt thought.

_"To hell with it. Give this __**everything**__ you've got_."

Jericho slid in the ring, and Matt immediately went to work, tripping Y2J up and locking in a half-Boston crab. Christian didn't seem too interested, standing in the corner like he was just watching the match up close instead of actually participating in it. Randy was reaching for a tag so much that his whole body was teetering over the top rope with his arm outstretched. Matt leaned back as far as he could without releasing the hold and managed to reach Randy.

_"Stay there. I'm putting this son of a bitch out."_

_"What? What the hell are you ..."_

But Matt realized what was going on when Randy seemed be lining up for the same kick to the head Batista received not too long ago. Matt held on tight as to keep Jericho in place when ...

_**SMACK!**_

The crowd collectively reeled back, hearing that awful sound resonate within the arena. Jericho's body immediately went limp and Matt let go of his leg. Randy flipped Jericho over and nonchalantly put only his boot on Jericho's chest for the cover. Matt immediately looked behind him at Christian, who actually had a big grin on his face.

"1, 2, 3!"

After the count was over, the whole arena quietened as everyone turned their focus to Jericho. The ref signaled for someone to come help, and a stretcher was momentarily rolled down the ramp. Randy, in another act of vengeance, shoved Jericho out and under the bottom rope, much to the delight of a clapping Christian. For a moment, Matt was a little shaken; Randy could have done a lot more damage to Jericho than he meant to. The bell was rung, and Lilian announced Randy and Matt as the winners of the match. Christian hopped off the ring apron and slowly followed the stretcher up the ramp, his hands folded on his chest and his head up high.

_"You ... you alright?"_, Matt asked Randy, a little apprehensive about provoking his brother.

_"Yeah. I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. You used that makeshift punching bag ... I used Jericho's head. All better now."_

_"Dude ... you could have ended his career."_

_"And? He should have known what he was getting himself into. Stuff like this is common in the business. You should get used to it. You're still having feelings like this?"_

_"Well ... yeah. It's hard to go from being a little goody-two-shoes to being someone like you. I was brought up differently."_

_"Don't worry. I'll shape you up."_

By this time, the stretcher was out of sight. Randy and Matt had been handed their titles, but Christian was still at the top of the ramp.

_**You think you know me...**_

Edge's theme song rang out across the arena, and a moment later, applause and cheers erupted from the WWE fans. Christian embraced his brother and the duo spun around and pointed straight at the Ortons.

* * *

The Ortons made their way back to the locker room, still a little lightheaded from their match. They had just turned the corner and had seen the locker room door when Camilla came flying ... literally ... out of the door. Acting on instinct, Matt started to run over to Camilla's side, but his stride turned into a stop once he realized what he was about to do. Amy walked out of the room as well; apparently she had used the Women's title belt as a weapon against Camilla.

"She's all yours", Amy said with a grin on her face. Camilla looked up to Matt, a giant bruise starting to form above her eye.

"What are you waiting for?!", she half-screamed to Matt. "Do something!"

"You know what, Camilla? I'll do something. Something I should have done a long time ago. But first, I'm going to ask you one question, and its probably the last question I will ever ask of you. Who was your boyfriend that you were having fun with in his shower?"

Camilla's eyes widened and she looked straight down to the concrete. She looked straight back up, and Matt now knew that he needed no more confirmation. "Matt ... I ... we were ... I just ... you never ..."

"You're scared for him. You've seen how I can get angry and you don't want that happening to him." A short pause, then a chuckle from Matt. "Find your own way home. Rent your own damn apartment. If you want your stuff from the house, you come and get it yourself. The divorce papers will be in the mail."

"Divorce?!", Camilla piped out. "But ... I don't ... Matt, I can't ... I don't want ..."

"I don't know what excuse you're going to pull out of your ass this time, but I won't have any of it. I guess you finally cracked from me holding out on you. I told you to go to counseling for it, but you refused. And look at what happened. You have problems. Get them fixed."

Matt promptly turned around and entered the locker room. After Randy followed him in, Camilla's bag was forcefully tossed out and the door locked. A moment passed by, and Camilla got up, picking up her bag in the process. The door suddenly opened and Matt stood in the doorway, his glare transfixed on Camilla. For just a moment, Camilla had a smile on her face, thinking that Matt had a change of heart. Instead, Matt tossed something at her, which she barely caught. Matt turned around, closed, and locked the door once more. Camilla looked down at what she caught.

It was Matt's wedding band.

* * *

_Whew, that took a little while!_

_- With a new threat to their tag team championships on the horizon, how will Randy and Matt respond to the challenge?_

_- Unforgiven is only six days away! Who will emerge as the World Heavyweight Champion: Batista, Eric Barringer, or John Cena?_

_- The Elimination Chamber match at Unforgiven has now become even more complicated with the new pairing of Edge and Christian. Can Randy hold onto the Intercontinental title? Or is it time for the belt to be around another's waist?_

_Thanks for reading! Let me know how I'm doing!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	11. The 2nd Struggle

_Here we go!_

_- Back home, Matt lands in the same situation he was in two days after the Royal Rumble. Will the outcome be the same or will Matt finally make a stand in his relationship?_

_- At the start of Unforgiven, Randy learns that Chris Jericho was still take part in the Elimination Chamber match. Will this new bit of information spurn Randy on to win the match or will the elder Orton lose his focus AND the Intercontinental Championship?_

* * *

Matt opened the door to his bedroom, holding a huge box. Setting it down on the bed, he surveyed his surroundings and started to take apart the room, separating his possessions from those of Camilla's. All of Camilla's clothes were taken out of his closet and the dresser drawers, all of Camilla's makeup was unceremoniously tossed in a smaller container and set aside, and Camilla's extra pillows and bedsheets were tossed in the hallway. Downstairs, Randy and John could hear the dismantling of Matt's room, thinking that there was a fight going on from all the sounds resonating from the second floor.

"Homeboy's cleaning house, huh? Can't argue with him over what's happened. I would have dumped her the first time she messed up."

"That's what I wanted him to do, no doubt about it. But he convinced me that she was going to be truthful again. Lo and behold ... look what Matt gets himself into. You know, I pity Matt just as much as the man who was ramming Camilla in the shower. Once Matt finds out who it is ... whew, I wouldn't want to be that guy. I'm a little at fault too. I should have seen it and convinced Matt that getting back together, much less marry her, was the wrong thing to do. But kids need to learn how to let go. You, Eric, Hunter, Dave, and Camilla all turned your backs on us at one time or another, and Matt found it in his heart to let everyone back in our lives. He and I have been wrong 2 out of 5 times. I'm not going to let that happen to us again."

"You know I'm sorry, right? I let my past catch up to me. I should learn how to let go too."

"It wouldn't hurt for you to try."

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the first floor, and the pair looked behind them to see Matt coming down the stairs with a couple of boxes stacked on top of one another. After putting them down and opening a mostly empty broom closet, Matt stuffed the boxes inside and slammed the door shut. He then grabbed a glass of milk from the kitchen and sat beside John and Randy on the couch.

"So ... how does it feel to be single again?", John said, trying to lighten the mood. "Are you going to go fishin' for chicks?", he said awkwardly, remembering that Randy and Matt threw the 'there are more fish in the sea' line back and forth between one another.

Randy thought Matt would blow up, but, to his surprise, Matt seemed to take it in stride.

"Heh ... no ... no, I think I'll stay on the one-lane highway for a while. No more love for me for a while. Only bad thing is ... I might be a little more irritable now that I won't be having sex for a while."

"You're taking this better than I thought you would. You're not having any second thoughts about this?", Randy inquired after a hearty chuckle.

"No. Not at all. You know the old saying ... 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me'? Well, lets say I don't want anymore shame on me. No more Camilla. I've already called a lawyer to set up the divorce papers and she will no longer be a part of this family. Period."

Randy did a quick search of Matt's mind to truly see if Matt was telling to truth. Much to his liking, Matt was indeed having those very thoughts he just mentioned.

"You're maturing. I like that. I just wish it didn't take trial and error for you to learn stuff like this."

"Well ... you're right. You're absolutely right. No more of this shit."

Matt immediately got up, seeing that the mail man had passed by, and rushed outside to see what had arrived. Meanwhile, Amy and Eric had come inside from lounging by the pool and Dave had come inside from ... where else ... the weight room. Everyone was now bustling around in the kitchen, trying to find something to snack on. Matt barged in from outside, carrying a single envelope in his hand.

"Something from the wretched one?", Amy quipped, referring to Camilla. Matt chuckled before responding.

"Nah ... looks like its from a fan." Orton fumbled with the envelope before pulling out a letter. Inside the letter was a picture, and Matt let out a loud guffaw after taking a gander. "Take a look at this, Randy. You'll get a kick out of it." Matt tossed the picture to Randy and started to read the letter.

_Dear Randy and Matt,_

_You probably don't remember us among the many different faces you've seen over the last few weeks. My brother and I were the two in the front row with the replica World Tag Team Championship belts the Monday night after you won the Tag championships from the Hardys at SummerSlam. You'll probably think what I'm about to say is kind of stupid, but it couldn't be closer to the truth. You two are an inspiration to both me and my brother Mark. You are living proof that brothers can go through some sort of tremendous trauma in their lives and still rise up and be successful. Mark and I lost our parents not too long ago, but ever since we learned of the Orton story, we sort of adopted you guys as our role models. Don't change what you're doing. You're affecting more people than you realize. _

Thanks,  
Adam

The whole house was quiet once Matt finished reading. He looked up to Randy, who was also stunned, to say the least, from the message.

"That ... that's some heavy stuff", John stuttered. Eric nodded, and Amy wiped away a tear. Randy looked down at the picture in his hands: Adam and Mark both Orton posing with the replica tag team belts around their waists.

* * *

_**UNFORGIVEN 2003  
**__Elimination Chamber Match for the Intercontinental Championship  
__Randy Orton (c) vs. Matthew Orton vs. Christian vs. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho_

Unforgiven this year took place at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The other matches for the night had already taken place, and the only two left were the Elimination Chamber match and the World Heavyweight Championship match. Stone Cold had summoned the participants in the Chamber match to his office; Randy and Matt were headed over, clad in matching blue tights.

"You know ...", Matt mentioned, "... we should wear different colors so people could tell us apart."

"No, we shouldn't", Randy scoffed back. "You're half a foot shorter than I am. The difference is pretty damn obvious."

Matt rolled his eyes as they turned the corner to see the entrance to Stone Cold's office. As they entered, they saw the room clad with security guards ... and for good reason. Randy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw Chris Jericho standing ... barely ... among the participants. Matt held Randy back as the security guards bunched up in front of Jericho.

"And they said that this wouldn't be necessary ...", Austin said as he shook his head. "Anyway, boys, here's how this is gonna work. I've got 6 pieces of folded up paper in this here hat. Each one of you will pick one. If you got a black star on your paper, you're one of the first two in the Chamber. Any questions?"

No one seemed to mind, except Randy, who was still foaming at the mouth to get at Jericho. The hat was tossed to Jeff Hardy, who picked a starless piece of paper. Edge was next, and received another starless paper. Jericho snatched the hat away from Edge, who seemed like he still had a piece of business to settle with Y2J. Chris looked at his paper and cursed; his was the first black star of the bunch. Christian was next and didn't pull a black star. Matt took the hat and unfolded his piece of paper, then looked over at his brother. Matt shook his head, and Randy happily pulled out the last black star.

"Alright then ... ain't that ironic? Anyway, the rest of you, listen up. Every three minutes, someone'll randomly be let into the Chamber. Last one left is the winner. Give me a good show."

Austin waved everyone off, Matt still holding Randy back as the security escorted Jericho out of the room.

"You've got three minutes alone with him inside the chamber. End it there."

"He must be a glutton for punishment."

"Or he has the same distaste for us that we have for him. Don't underestimate what someone will go through to get what they want. You should know that, of all people. And watch your back out there; Edge and Christian look like how we did when we first tagged together. If they get out before I do, you'll be in big trouble."

Outside in the arena proper, the Chamber itself started to lower towards the ring. Lilian looked up towards it and shuddered; the black steel gave off a completely different aura than the normal silver chain of either a steel cage or Hell in a Cell. Once it was lowered and secured in place, Lilian stood up where she was and announced the beginning of the match.

"The following contest is the Elimination Chamber match and it is for the Intercontinental Championship!"

"No More Words" started to blare out of the speakers, and Jeff Hardy strolled out onto the stage, doing his convulsive dance as usual. The fans weren't as kind to Jeff as they had been before; Jeff's actions in the previous week's match still rubbed some people the wrong way. After taking a look at the Chamber itself, Jeff stepped inside and was locked inside his compartment.

_**You think you know me...**_

Edge was the next one down the ramp. His overall demeanor seemed a bit lighter and at ease than from when he debuted on RAW; Lilian surmised it was the prospect of being with his brother that made Edge behave differently. Christian was the next one down after Edge was locked in his chamber; Christian took the chamber directly across from him. "Burn In My Light" played next, and Matt stepped out onto the stage, posing in front of his golden pyro. The fans couldn't tell, but the whole time Matt was stuck in the Orton pose, he was staring at the black mass of metal in front of him. Hell in a Cell was one thing; this cage seemed like it was made for those who should be stuck in an insane asylum. After giving one of the officials his half of the World Tag Team Championship, Matt stepped into his chamber and was locked inside. Matt put his hand up in front of the plexiglass in front of him and said outloud:

"Be careful in here, Randy."

_**Break the walls down...**_

Chris Jericho then made his way down to the ring ... err ... _stumbled_ his way down to the ring. The effects of Randy's vicious kick to the head were very apparent; Chris had to stop and regain his balance every few steps. Once Jericho stepped into the ring, he turned to face every single person in their chamber. Jeff Hardy's face was mostly blank, but his gaze on Jericho never broke. Edge was snarling at Jericho; Matt had read on that Edge's whole reason for his mini-feud with Y2J was to snatch his brother out of Jericho's grasp. Apparently, Edge was successful. Christian had a similar gaze; he too was tired of being manipulated by Jericho week in and week out.

Finally, "Burn In My Light" played one more time, and Randy stepped out onto the stage, the Intercontinental title around his waist and his half of the World Tag Team Championships on his shoulder. However, Randy didn't stop to pose once the pyro went off behind him. Randy's eyes were like crosshairs, and Jericho was about to come under fire. The elder Orton slowly and methodically walked down the ramp, devoid of the usual cockiness that characterized his entrances. Matt wasn't surprised to see this; the opportunity to finish Jericho off once and for all fueled Randy's hatred like logs to a roaring fire. Jericho stepped back and leaned against the nearest turnbuckle, trying to ready himself as Randy entered the ring. The in-ring official took a deep breath and signaled for the match to start.

Jericho braced for impact, but Randy wasn't moving. Matthew eyed his brother suspiciously; he didn't know if Randy was just trying to play mind games with Jericho or if he was waiting for Jericho to make the first move. Matt banged on the plexiglass in front of him to try to snap Randy out of his trance. It worked, to some degree, causing Randy to look to Matt's chamber, if only for a second. This second is all that Jericho wanted; he ran full speed at Randy. Orton, in the blink of an eye, reared back one fist and let loose with quickness and virility, striking Jericho in the head. Y2J plummeted to the canvas, falling face first. Like a raven eying a dead carcass, Randy stood over Jericho who hadn't moved one inch since the punch. Orton slowly squatted down and flipped Jericho on his back. He bent down and put his face right in front of Chris'.

"You better thank God that I am not taking you apart limb by limb right now, Jericho. Because if I wasn't in front of millions of people, I would pummel your face in until no one would be able to recognize you. You would be a bloody, tattered mess. It's bad enough that you kept feeling like you were of more worth than myself and my brother when it came to the Intercontinental Championship. I thought you would get the picture when Stone Cold himself gave you a Stunner before SummerSlam. But you sealed your fate whenever you and Christian cornered my fiancee. I guess for now ... you'll have to sit in your own house thinking about the consequences you received from me tonight."

Randy stood back up and backed to the nearest turnbuckle, rearing down and aiming directly at Jericho's head again. In Matt's head, he wanted to stop Randy from the brutality that was going to ensue ... but there was a primal part of him that wanted to see Jericho's head recoil from the massive kick.

_"Do it."_ Matt could feel the aura around Randy transfer somewhat to himself. The same anger, the same hatred started to make Matt's whole body shake uncontrollably. Orton could feel his body temperature rise and sweat started to bead and fall down his face and torso.

"_**DO IT!**_", Matt screamed from behind the plexiglass, slamming his fists against the barrier in front of him. Randy immediately took aim and ran at Jericho's head, delivering the second round of massive trauma to Y2J. The ref quickly kneeled in front of Jericho and blocked any further harm. Randy backed off and rested against the corner of the ring as paramedics came down to the chamber and loaded Jericho onto a stretcher. Now as the only one in the Chamber, Randy looked at all four compartments, wondering which one of them would be his next victim.

Although there was still 45 seconds left on the timer, the officials decided to pull the trigger early. The whole arena went dark and a single spotlight began to bounce speedily between the four chambers. Matt wasn't afraid if the light happened to select him to be released into the Chamber with his brother; the Intercontinental Championship was still something Matt highly prized and to have it once again would make his night. The spotlight began to slow down, taking longer and longer to bounce from person to person. It went from Hardy, to Christian, to Edge, to Orton ... to Hardy ... to Christian ... to Edge ...... to Orton ...... to Hardy ......

... and stayed on Hardy. The lock to his chamber opened, and Jeff hopped over the top rope into the ring, staring Randy down in the center. Randy made the first move, attempting a simple clothesline, but Jeff ducked under it and starting laying into Randy's face with a barrage of right hands. Hardy then whipped Randy to the ropes and tried for a clothesline of his own, but Randy blocked it and leveled Jeff with a shoulder block. Randy let out a short growl and grabbed Jeff by the hair to pull him up to his feet. Orton whipped Hardy again to the ropes, but this time with an extra 'umph', sending Jeff up and over the top rope and down onto the metal grating below. In his chamber, Matt didn't have a watch, but he had been counting the seconds since Jeff entered the Chamber.

_"Halfway to the next entrant, Randy. Hold on."_

Randy gave the slightest of nods as he followed Jeff to the outside. Hardy retaliated quickly with a low blow, causing Randy to double over. Jeff took advantage and brought Randy down hard with a sudden Twist of Fate. Matt let out a gasp and pounded against the glass, counting the seconds down until the next chamber opened. Jeff rolled Randy back into the ring proper and started climbing the turnbuckle.

_"Shit, Randy! Swanton! Move! __**MOVE!**__" _

But his older brother wasn't moving. Matt cringed as Jeff climbed to the top of his own chamber. Hardy looked down at the younger Orton and gave him the one-fingered salute before leaping off of the chamber ... only to miss his target. Randy had rolled out of the way in the nick of time, leaving Jeff sprawled on the canvas, grabbing his upper back and neck. The lights went out again, and Matt let out a sigh of relief before jumping up and down as the spotlight began to bounce between the three remaining Superstars.

Edge, Christian, Orton, Edge, Christian, Orton ... Edge ... Christian ... Orton ...... Edge ...... Christian ......

Matt cursed loud enough for the people around him to hear as Christian was let out of his chamber. Christian immediately went for the cover on Randy.

"1, 2, th..."

_"YES!"_, thought Matt as Randy barely got his shoulder up. Christian pulled Randy to his feet and immediately began the motions for the Killswitch. (_**A/N**__: Yes, I know it was called the Unprettier in 2003. To hell with that name; Killswitch is better.) _Randy managed to shift his weight against Christian's body movement and ended up behind him. Randy spun Christian around and leveled him to the floor with an RKO! Orton took a moment to collect himself, only to meet Jeff Hardy, who was also finally getting to his feet. Hardy charged Orton and caught him straight in the stomach, pushing him all the way back to the corner turnbuckle, blowing all the wind out of Orton. Randy tumbled to the mat, coughing up a lung. Matt couldn't stand being away from the action; he looked over to Edge in his chamber, who looked to be calm and collected, loosening himself up in his chamber.

Christian made it to his feet and threw Jeff over the top rope, following him outside very quickly. Christian then threw Jeff face first into the black steel, repeating this feat at least three or four times. Hardy started to bleed above his right eye; you could see the blood against his white face paint. Christian then looked to set up Jeff for some sort of powerbomb, but pulled Jeff's body perpendicular to the ground. Hardy then crumbled to the grating as Christian drove Jeff's head into the metal with a piledriver. The lights dimmed once more, and the spotlight began to bounce between Edge and Matt.

Edge, Orton, Edge, Orton, Edge, Orton, Edge ... Orton ... Edge ... Orton ...... Edge ...... Orton ......

_"It's about fucking time ..."_, Matt thought as his chamber door unlocked. The younger Orton nearly tripped coming out of the compartment, which conveniently was right next to where Christian had just drove Hardy's head into the grating. Rapid fire punches from the younger Orton bounced Christian's head on his spine, and Matt shoved Christian into the metal wall. Moving Jeff's body out of the way, Matt whipped Christian to the ropes. When Christian ran back at him, Orton caught Christian and tossed him overhead with a belly-to-belly suplex. Christian crashed against the wall and fell to the grating, landing next to Jeff's body. Matt's adrenaline rush subsided somewhat and turned around to see his brother just now getting to his feet.

_"How do you feel?"_

_"Like a million fucking bucks", _Randy replied sarcastically. _"Pull one of them in here so we can get rid of him."_

Both Ortons picked up Jeff and threw him back into the ring through the ropes. Randy and Matt pulled Jeff to his feet, only to receive a punch in the stomach from the now recovered Hardy. Jeff bounced himself against the ropes and clotheslined both brothers down. Randy stayed on his back, but Matt bounced right back up, landing a resounding uppercut that sent Jeff sprawling to the floor. Christian was now getting to his feet as well; Matt pulled Randy over to cover Jeff, then went after Christian on the outside.

"1, 2, ..."

Jeff pushed Randy's arm off of him, getting Matt's attention. After pulling Christian to his feet, Matt quickly executed an MKO on the steel grating outside, then rolled back inside the ring to attack Hardy once more. Matt and Jeff grappled in the middle of the ring, with Hardy pushing Orton to a turnbuckle. The lights went off for the last time, signaling the opening of Edge's chamber. Randy got to his feet and met Edge as he exited, exchanging punches with him much like he did Jeff when he entered the Chamber. With Edge being the fresher man though, he easily forced Randy to the steel wall, then threw him over the top rope and into the ring. Matt saw this happening and tried to free himself up, but Jeff was relentless in his pursuit, stomping his foot several times on Matt's chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Matt could see Christian stumble to his feet and climb back into the ring. With one rush of adrenaline, Matt used his feet to push Jeff back, knocking Jeff into Christian. Hardy delivered a Twist of Fate to Christian, only to turn around and get speared by Edge.

"1, 2, 3!"

And like that, Hardy's chances at the Intercontinental Championship were reduced to zero. Matt got to his feet and taunted Edge, who responded by running straight at him. Matt ducked out of the way at the last second to let Edge run shoulder first into the turnbuckle. However, Christian was right behind Orton, wrapping his arm around Matt's neck in a sleeper hold. Orton almost immediately fell to one knee. The grip around his neck was loosened when Randy got up and put Christian in a sleeper hold simultaneously. Matt could see Edge getting back to his feet and started another charge towards him. Matt slipped out of the sleeper and Randy let go of Christian, causing Edge to spear Christian down to the mat. Edge stood up and looked down at his brother, dumbfounded that he could have missed the spear on Matt. Randy and Matt used this opportunity to set up the double RKO. Edge was still bemoaning his mistake when he turned around and walked right into it. Randy stayed behind to cover Edge while Matt slapped the Texas Cloverleaf on Christian.

"1, 2, 3!"

Not two seconds afterwards, Christian tapped out. Matt got up and spun around ... only to walk right into another RKO.

"1, 2, th..."

But Matt somehow managed to kick out. Randy stood up, albeit not all that surprised at Matt's resilience. He watched his brother get on all fours and started to crawl over to the ropes to get up. Randy crept up behind him readying his right arm. Once Matt got on two feet, Randy wrapped his right arm around Matt's neck and took Matt down to the ground, squeezing as hard as he sat on Matt's back. In addition, Randy turned around and pulled one of Matt's legs up in a Boston crab-style manner.

_"Where the hell did you come up with this?!"_, Matt thought to his brother, reaching out his hand, trying to desperately reach the ropes.

_"Tap out and I'll tell you."_

Matt was thinking that he might have to. With Randy constricting him in such a manner, the pain was becoming way too much to handle and he didn't have enough energy to drag himself over to the ropes.

_"I don't know why you're resisting ... you can't break a submission hold by grabbing the ropes in an Elimination Chamber match."_

_"... fuck!"_

With no way to escape, Matt had little choice but to submit. Randy let go, and Matt rolled to the corner instinctively. The chamber was opened, and an official handed Randy his title.

"Here is your winner", Lilian announced, "and _still_ the Intercontinental Champion, Randy Orton!"

After doing a round of celebratory poses at each turnbuckle, Randy extended a hand to his brother to help him up. The crowd gave Matt a round of applause as well, and the brothers exited the chamber together.

"Now where the hell did you come up with that?", Matt ask right as they stepped behind the curtain.

"What? It's not like its rocket science. Stick a half-Boston crab and a sleeper hold together and you get what I did. You've got the Texas Cloverleaf as a submission hold and now I have something too. Although I haven't come up with a name yet. I'll come up with something stupid like Cena did with his STFU. But look on the bright side: I've still got the Intercontinental title and we've permanently stamped Jericho off of our show. Can't get any better than that, right?"

"Well ... I'm sure Jeff is going to be pissed tomorrow night. And Edge and Christian want these tag belts too. Don't forget that. Tonight was just a stepping stone to bigger things, Randy."

"You've got that right", Randy said with a malevolent grin on his face. "When we get back, lets washup and walk back to the hotel. I'm dead tired and I could use a nap."

"We're not going to watch the World title match?"

"Nah. Something wrong with that? Besides, we get there, fix a protein shake, go to bed, and be all rested for tomorrow. Might even squeeze a workout at the local Gold's Gym before its time to get back to the arena."

"That's strange. You always want pizza after a pay-per-view."

"Can't let stuff like that crawl into our diet. Not now. Not with Hardy, Edge, and Christian breathing down our necks."

A sense of satisfaction and triumph came over Matt. He and his brother were on the road to becoming the greatest pair of World Tag Team Champions in WWE history.

* * *

  
_- After a night of recovery, the brothers hit the gym hard and heavy in the morning. When they run into someone unexpectedly in the locker room, harsh words are exchanged._

_- Who is the World Heavyweight Champion? John Cena? Batista? Eric Barringer?_

_- Stone Cold acquires yet another talent from SmackDown. _

_This one ran a little longer than I planned. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know how I'm doing by submitting a review! Thanks!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	12. New Blood

_- Before RAW rolls around, Randy and Matt wake up extra early to hit the gym hard after their experience in the Elimination Chamber the night before. Matt gets a text from someone he hasn't seen in a while and the brothers receive some unwanted attention._

_- When the brothers do return to the hotel, they find out if the World Heavyweight Championship changed hands or not. And when Monday night finally gets started, Stone Cold introduces the new #1 contender. _

* * *

Randy slowly let the door to his hotel room close, careful not to let it slam shut and wake Lilian up. He crept outside in the hall, carrying his gym bag over his shoulder, dressed in a black muscle shirt and long, black windpants. Randy knew that if he woke anyone up, especially at this time of morning, he wouldn't hear the end of it ... and if he woke up Batista ... well, he didn't want to think of what would happen. Orton stopped about 10 rooms from his own and knocked on the door.

_"You ready?"_

_"Gimme a sec. Just mixing my protein."_

Matt walked out with his shaker bottle and gym bag, and both brothers proceeded to the stairwell for the lengthy climb down.

"You feelin' alright?", Randy asked. "I don't know if I hurt you too bad last night."

"Leg's a little stiff. Nothing a little stretching won't fix. And you shouldn't be worrying about me being hurt. You don't when we're kidding around at home and all you care about is making me pass out."

"Well ... I just felt like I was a little hyped up and I thought I was overdoing it."

"A _little _hyped up? Dude, you were a monster out there! You should have seen your face when you put Jericho away! I could _feel _all your emotion just coming off of you and onto me. I felt like I wanted to rip Jericho in half just as much as you did. Looking back on what happened, we were a little demented last night."

"Heh. I guess you could say that. I don't even remember some of what happened last night concerning Jericho. I just remember that intense feeling of satisfaction that I had after he was wheeled away. It was even better when I made you tap."

Matt looked over at the giant sneering grin on his brother's face. "Hey, I showed that I can hold my own in that type of environment. If I had kept my attention on you after I had eliminated Christian, I might have been holding that belt in the air last night."

"But you didn't. Poor baby", Randy said mockingly as they reached the lobby. Matt punched Randy in the shoulder in retaliation, then felt his phone vibrate. He waited until they were outside walking towards Gold's Gym before he looked at it.

"You can't be serious...", Matt commented upon seeing the sender's name. "Camilla. Should I even look at it?"

"Nope. Delete that sucker and forget she even exists. She had her chance, remember? I thought you were past this."

"I am. I'm wondering if I should mess with her or not."

Randy grinned and shook his head in approval. "That can wait until after the gym. If you start thinking about it now, you won't be able to focus."

"We're not going 'Batista' level hard, are we? Just some light stuff?"

"Light lifting and cardio. I don't think your knee can take a heavy workout."

Matt rolled his eyes as they turned the corner, seeing the gym come into their sight. With it being so early on a Monday, the gym was surprisingly empty and the brothers walked into the building, heading straight to the locker room to put up their gym bags. Heading to the gym floor, they hopped onto treadmills to warmup. Matt's cell phone vibrated in his pocket again; Camilla had just sent another message.

"Why did you bring that out here?", Randy asked, speeding his treadmill up a bit. "It's just going to distract you."

"I want to torture the little bitch. She thinks she can get me back? She's got another thing coming." Matt flipped open his cell phone to read the two messages that were sent. "Let's see here. 'I know I have a problem. PLEASE let me convince you can take me back.' You know ... if she really wanted me back, she would call me instead of text me. What's the other say? Ah, here we go. 'PLEASE MATT! PLEASE!' All caps, huh? That's nice."

Randy was starting to laugh at his brother mocking his soon-to-be ex-wife. The elevated volume caught the attention of the only other men in the gym, who turned around and seemed to recognize the two brothers. Randy let out a short sigh when they started to walk towards them.

"Aw ... look what you did now! You don't have a marker on you, do ya?"

Matt looked over and quickly inspected who looked to be two men his own age. His eyebrows went up, as he if realized something. "I don't think they want autographs ... I've seen the one on the left before."

"You know him?"

"You should. Look at him. Doesn't he look like ..."

"Well, well ...", said the more built one on the right. "... shouldn't you two be resting? You had a hell of a match last night."

Randy's eyes lit up in much the same way Matt's did. "You're Dibiase's kid, aren't you? Ted, right? And you ...", Randy said pointing to the other guy, " ... you're Cody! Cody Rhodes! I'd recognize your face anywhere. Almost a mirror image of your father."

"I guess we don't need to introduce ourselves then", Cody said. "Just wanted to congratulate you on a match well fought last night. Remind me never to piss either of you off. But that's just one of the reasons we came over here."

"You two are going to see a lot more of us in the future. We get our tryout matches on RAW in a couple of weeks."

"Really now?", Matt said. "Each one of you know who you're going up against?"

"We plan to be a tag team", Cody responded. "We'll get our tryout match together as a team as a matter of fact."

Randy looked over at his brother. "A tag team, huh? Funny that you two should run into us here. So who are you two facing? Edge and Christian? Test and Scott Steiner? The Dudleys?"

Ted had a giant smirk on his face and looked over at Cody before saying ... "We'll be facing you two, actually. But you go on and finish your workout. I'm sure you'll need it coming up in two weeks."

"Cocky already?", asked Matt. "I don't know about you, Randy, but if it were my first match and I was going up against a title holder, I wouldn't be so confident. You two see my tryout match? I was on pins and needles up until that bell rang."

"That's the difference between us and you", piped up Ted. "We already know that we're going to be World Tag Team Champions within weeks of us getting WWE contracts. There's no doubt in our minds."

Matt looked over to see a spot of irritation in Randy's face. "The first thing you need to do is win your tryout match before you even _think_ about taking our tag championships away from us. We demolished four teams _in a row_ in our match last week on RAW and you if think you can come up to us and claim that you are going to take our spot, I'd step back and **rethink** it."

Matt now stood between Ted & Cody and his brother, fearing that an altercation might break out. Ted & Cody both looked at each and stepped back, turning towards where they were working out beforehand. Matt looked back up at his brother to see a determined and intent face. As Rhodes and Dibiase resumed working out, Randy finally started to breathe again. He grabbed his bottle of water and stomped away towards the locker room.

"Wait a minute! What about our workout?"

"To hell with it. I'm too pissed off to focus."

* * *

"We didn't even spend 10 minutes on the damn treadmill", Matt said as they walked into the hotel's restaurant to pick up breakfast. "Man, I was kinda pumped up for it. It's the whole reason we went to sleep early last night."

"If I stayed five more seconds in that place, Matt, I would have done something I would have regretted. Those sons of bitches ..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ... we're getting worked up over something that will probably add up to nothing in the end. We haven't lost yet despite all the crap that's been thrown at us. Having some wannabes say that they're going to take away our World Tag Team Championships is nothing compared to the TLC match at SummerSlam or the Tag Team turmoil match or that Triple Threat match against Hardy & Edge and Jericho & Christian. Just take a deep breath and chill, okay? You and I both need anger management classes", Matt lectured as he and Randy fixed themselves each a hot bowl of oatmeal. Randy nodded, grabbed 2 oranges and went to find a table to sit down at.

"Do we have any idea what's going to happen tonight?", Randy asked, trying to get his mind off of what had happened at the gym. "I'd say its safe to say that me keeping my Intercontinental Championship is a good bet. Think Austin will throw more gimmick matches at us?"

"I hope not. TLC, Tag Team Turmoil, Elimination Chamber ... a good ole' singles match would be a good cup of tea right now. Although I imagine Edge & Christian will have something to say when it comes to the tag titles. They _were_ the last two in the Chamber with us. Hardy's going to pitch one hell of a fit too. Austin's going to have his hands full."

"And you? You aren't going to ask for another match against me?"

"Nah. You've got this. I've already had the pleasure of holding the Intercontinental and World Tag Team Championships at the same time. Your turn now, remember?" Matt paused to stop because he felt his phone vibrate again. Flipping it open, Matt read the message aloud. "... 'Just give me 5 minutes. If I can't convince you, I will never speak to you again.' How the hell did I marry this girl?"

"I don't know, man. I ask myself that question over and over and over again. Just put it behind you and ..." Randy stopped himself when he spotted someone behind Matt. The younger Orton looked behind him and saw his future ex-wife with a bagel in her hand. Matt gave off a little chuckle, ate a piece of orange, and stood up to face her.

"I don't need five minutes of my time to be wasted. First, you made a pass at my brother. Then, you cheat on me with only god-knows-who last Monday. And how do I know that you hadn't been doing him for a long time? Your other method of dealing with your sex addiction? As far as I'm concerned, I'm beginning to think that our whole relationship, everything that you did with me and everything that you said to me was just a giant cover-up for you having a goddamn affair. Now, I'm not going to tell you again. I don't want to speak to you, I don't want to see you, I don't want to ever hear of you ever again. Oh, and I would stay away from Amy. She thinks you're the devil's own child and has vowed to cleanse this earth of you."

Matt went back to eating as did Randy, but Camilla continued to stand behind him. She took two things out of her pocket and set them down in front of Matt.

"I still love you."

Camilla then turned around and headed for the elevator, not saying another word. Matt's eyes pointed themselves to the two rings on the table: Camilla's wedding ring and his own wedding band. Randy looked at them too, then back up at his brother. Matt grabbed the two rings with his right hand and put them in his pocket.

_"What are you going to do with them?"_

_"Do the same thing you did when Torrie cheated on you. Throw them away."_

* * *

The elevator dinged, and the brothers stepped out after finishing their breakfast. With it being almost 8:00 now, Randy and Matt expected everyone to be up. Matt knocked on Eric and Amy's door to see if anyone would respond. Randy did the same to John and Dave. No response from either.

"Where is everyone?", Matt yelled down the hall to his brother. "They can't be still asleep. Dave would have been up at the most 30 minutes after we got up."

"Did you check our room?"

Matt went a few doors over, and sure enough, everyone was packed into the room with Lilian, seemingly watching TV. Matt motioned over to Randy and both brothers entered the room.

"It's about damn time you two showed up!", Lilian said, throwing a pillow at Randy. "I woke up without you next to me and I got worried! It's bad enough that you left RAW without me!"

"Sorry! Jeez ...", Randy replied, putting the pillow back on the bed. "... Matt and I figured we'd get rested up for a workout."

_"Are you going to tell them about either Ted & Cody or Camilla?"_

_"Hell no. Don't let Eric find out either."_

"You should have at least told me. I had _something_ planned for you last night!"

Matt stifled a chuckle before his brother punched him in the shoulder. Randy let out a big sigh and sat next to his fiancee, while Matt took a seat on the floor in front of the closet. "So why is everyone in here? Are we just chilling or what?"

"Yeah", said Dave. "Last night was so brutal, even I don't want to get up and do anything."

Randy and Matt both looked at each other, knowing that it would take one **hell** of a match for Dave to want to take a break. Matt expected someone to comment on how the match went, but no one ended up speaking up.

"So are you all just going to leave us in the dark? Who won the match? Who's champion?"

John took the pillow off of his lap to reveal the big gold belt underneath. Matt looked over to Eric, who smiled, but seemed disappointed. Dave, on the other hand, actually looked impressed. "Cena is one of the toughest sons-of-a-bitch that I know. Wouldn't tap out to Eric's Camel Clutch and took one of my Bombs and _STILL_ kicked out. Managed to catch Eric in the air when he jumped off the turnbuckle and slammed him down in an FU. It was probably **the** hardest match I've ever had. Barringer did well too. Had me in a Clutch a couple of times and just wouldn't let me get to the ropes. John had to come over and break the hold to let me go. You two boys missed out on a real gem of a match."

"If you're this happy and you lost the match, I wonder what it would have been like to see you like this if you had _won_", said Randy, a little weirded out at Dave's reaction. The older Orton then looked over at Eric, then up at Amy. Amy leaned over and whispered to him:

"He's been quiet since last night. He's really bummed out. Didn't do much other than sleep. I had to push him out of bed this morning."

"He wants that title _really _bad. Who can blame him for being down on himself right now, especially when the other two men that were in the match with him are right here in this room? Hopefully Stone Cold will give him another chance, or at least the opportunity to put himself back in the title hunt."

"I don't know. Eric's already had two tries at this. Who knows what Austin is going to do?"

* * *

To try to cheer Eric up, Matt took him out to the arena about 2 hours before the doors opened to the fans and signed some autographs for the people waiting in line. Many of them congratulated Eric, saying that he should be the one with the World Heavyweight Championship around his waist. Matt purposely let Eric lead so as to let the fans focus on him; Matt still knew that Eric clung on to the notion that he was still the lowest of the pair. The more confidence that Matt could give him, the more his attitude would change for the better. Once it was about 30 minutes to showtime, the two went back to the locker room so they could change.

"Feel better? You were getting some looks out there. Plus, I bet you never thought you would sign some chick's breasts."

"If you even mention one word of that to Amy, I will fucking bash your brains in! She'll KILL me!"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I won't tell a damn soul. Including Randy."

Upon arriving at the locker room, everyone was changed into their gear, even Amy. Matt grabbed his bag and headed into the changing room while Eric sat down next to Amy.

"You've got a match, babe?", Eric asked his fiancee after a brief kiss on the cheek.

"Yep, you and me are tagging together tonight."

"Really? Against whom."

"Camilla and a partner of her choosing."

Matt stuck his head out from behind the divider, the information catching his interest. "Of _her_ choosing, huh? I guess I'll finally find out who the slimy bastard is. You better tear his goddamn heart out, Eric!"

"I wouldn't get too excited, Matt. She chose you."

Matt looked over at Randy, and he shrugged his shoulders back.

_"What the hell was Austin thinking when he let her choose? Better yet, how the hell did he know that Camilla and I separated?"_

_"I don't know. I really don't know. Wait ... you aren't thinking that __**Austin's**__ doing her, are you? You've got some balls to think it would be him!"_

The sound of glass shattering coming from the monitor made everyone jump yet again, and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out onto the stage, microphone in hand. After the initial applause died down, the General Manager got down to business.

"Before I say anything, I want you all to recognize Dave Batista, John Cena, and Eric Barringer for a match well fought last night. Each and every one of those sons-of-bitches gave 115% in that damn match!" There was another round of applause and cheers from the crowd, bolstering Eric's spirits a little more. "Now, our next pay-per-view isn't until Survivor Series in November. And while last night was a hell of a match, I'm getting a little ... well ... ole' Stone Cold's getting a little bored with everything going between that 'family' they got back there. That's why I want to bring more boys to the back. I've already struck gold with Edge, and now I get one more comin'. As a matter of fact, I'm making him the #1 contender to John Cena's title!"

Both Batista and Eric looked intently at the monitor, Dave curling up his fist and Eric getting to his feet. Stone Cold looked back to the curtain ... and some familiar theme music began to play. There were some grunts coming from down the hallway, and the #1 contender himself passed by the door of the locker room.

It was Goldberg.

* * *

_- How do Eric and Dave take the news that they've been pushed aside for someone from SmackDown? _

_- Matt has a new suspect. Does he have the gumption to accuse one of his childhood idols?_

_- Will Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase win their tryout match and be offered a contract on RAW?_

_Hope you enjoyed this one! Don't forget to read and review!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	13. Priceless

_- Matt has to deal with a mixed tag team match pitting husband and wife vs. husband-and-wife to be. Afterwards, he decides whether or not to pursue his notion that Stone Cold Steve Austin himself is Camilla's secret lover._

_- Then, Randy and Matt have to switch it into high-gear in an unexpected high-stakes match. Can the brothers come out on top?_

* * *

"The following contest is a mixed tag-team match, and it is scheduled for one fall!", Lilian announced. "Introducing first, the team of Eric Barringer and the WWE Women's Champion, Lita!"

'You're Not Here' started to play and Eric and Amy strolled out onto the stage, each getting the cheers and appreciation from the crowd. Amy hoisted her belt above her head and turned towards the stage as she climbed into the ring. Eric followed suit right behind her, but didn't expect much ring time; Matt wouldn't let Camilla tag out.

A new theme song, 'Miss Independent' by Kelly Clarkson, started to play, and Camilla made her way onto the stage. She wasn't as cocky as she usually was, and only walked down the ramp instead of the usual pageantry Camilla would display. No golden pyro, no bright smiles, no flashy posing. Once Camilla reached the bottom of the ramp, she turned around and looked up at the stage, almost looking hopeful at who might come out.

'Burn In My Light' filled the arena, and Matthew Orton came out to the stage, doing just about everything that Camilla didn't do. With a giant smile on his face, Matt posed in front of his golden pyro to an explosion of cheers comparable to what Amy and Eric heard on their way out to the ring. Walking right by Camilla, Matt climbed into the ring, climbed onto one of the turnbuckles, and posed with his half of the World Tag Team Championships high up in the air. Upon returning to his corner, Matt climbed onto the apron without taking a second look at Camilla. Eric also climbed onto the apron in his corner, with Amy standing at the ready. Camilla tried to get Matt's attention, but Matt wouldn't have any of it. He dodged his soon-to-be ex-wife's looks, pretending to mess with his hair or biting his nails. The bell rang to start the match, but Camilla still was looking at Matt.

"Please ...", she said to Matt, a tear streaming down her face, "... please, Matt. Let me try! Let me try to fight this ... this ... addiction that I have! You know I love you! I can change!"

Matt could hear the growing desperation in Camilla's voice, and smiled, taking delight in hearing her whine. He looked at her for the first time that night, then at Amy, who was only steps behind Camilla. "I think they only thing you're going to fight tonight is her", he said, pointing behind Camilla. She turned around and ran straight into a stiff right hand from Amy. A stunned Camilla was then whipped to the ropes and clotheslined down to the canvas. Matt was halfway surprised to see Camilla offering no resistance whatsoever to Amy's beating. Amy now had Camilla in Eric's Camel Clutch, but Camilla was not trying to get out of the hold. Curious, Matt dropped down to the floor and walked around to where he could see Camilla's face. The two fields of vision met and Matt stared his wife down.

"What are you trying to prove?", Matt mouthed to Camilla.

"You know exactly what I'm trying to prove", she mouthed back before tapping out. Lilian announced Eric and Amy as the winners, and the pair climbed up on the turnbuckles to celebrate. Amy motioned for Eric to get out of the ring when she saw Matt walk over to Lilian and ask for a microphone. Matt climbed into the ring and squatted down in front of Camilla.

"You _poor_ unfortunate soul", Matt said slowly, making sure How, for once, can you expect for me to believe anything you say? For all I know, you probably started this affair before we even got married! It makes perfect sense ... I wait for it until the night of our wedding, you probably were out getting some from the guy I caught you with! Whomever it was, Camilla, I will find him ..."

Matt grabbed Camilla by the chin and came, literally, face-to-face with her.

"... and ... I ... will ... **break** **him**."

A short wave of cheers came and 'Burn In My Light' started to play as Matt slid out of the ring and walked up the ramp. He turned around and Orton posed for a brief second to the crowd before passing through the curtain. Randy came up from taking a seat next to the stage entrance and walked beside his brother.

"You can't be serious, right? You're _actually_ going to accuse him?"

"If he granted Camilla the chance to choose her tag team partner, Stone Cold knew about her cheating on me. None of us have told _anyone_ about this happening. Even the crowd didn't know about it! Didn't you hear them gasp when I said the word 'affair'? If Austin can think he can mess around with whomever he wants to, he ..."

"Will you listen to yourself!?", Randy exploded, grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "You are going to accuse the _General Manager_ of causing her affair. One of your _favorite_ WWE superstars! We're two of _his_ favorites also! Austin's married too, haven't you forgotten that?"

"That doesn't matter. Camilla was married too, and look what she did!"

"Camilla has an _addiction_, Matt! Austin doesn't!"

"Just get the hell out of my way before you do something you'll regret."

Matt attempted to pass his brother, but Randy moved himself in Matt's way.

"I'm not going to let you do this, Matt. You could get our tag team titles stripped from us. Even worse, you could get us **fired**!" Looking down at his brother, Randy saw Matt's fists tighten up. "Matt, I don't want to have to fight you over this. We don't need this right now!"

"You have **two** choices", Matt replied through closed teeth. "Move or be moved."

Randy didn't give a verbal response. Instead, he shoved Matt back and over a nearby table. The younger Orton quickly stood back up, but was caught in a sleeper hold from Randy, who then pulled Matt down to the concrete. Randy put all of his weight on Matt's back in an effort to make Matt pass out, but struggled immensely; Matt was putting up a hell of a fight, nearly getting to his feet on a couple of occasions. Nearly three minutes passed, way longer than it usually took, before Matt succumbed to the sleeper. Breathing heavily, Randy put the arm of his unconscious brother around his shoulder and carried him back to the locker room.

"Whoa!", yelled Dave. "What the hell happened?"

"Little guy got a little too out of control. He was about to storm into Austin's office and accuse him of doing Camilla. I put him out before that happened."

"Speaking of Austin", said Eric, who just came out of the changing room, "I think Dave and I need to have a talk with him. What the hell has Goldberg done to deserve a title shot? At least put him up against one of us to see who the better man is."

Dave nodded in agreement, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of a run-in with Goldberg. However, as if on cue, Stone Cold himself burst through the door, looking around the room.

"Where's the kid Orton?"

Randy nodded his head over towards the bench where Matt was still out. "He's sleeping."

"Well, wake his ass up. You two have got a match tonight. That pitiful display out there was nothing compared to what I've got planned for you two tonight."

"Hold on, Austin", said Randy, "We've been put through a Triple Threat match for our titles, then a Tag Team Turmoil match where we started first, and then an Elimination Chamber match. What the hell else could you put us through? It's starting to seem like you just want to pummel us into the ground! Give us a damn break! I thought you were on _our _side! Then, you bring in Goldberg for no good damn reason and insert him in the World title hunt! What has he done to deserve that?"

Dave, Eric, and John all looked at each other, glad that Randy was talking on their behalf instead of themselves.

"And then let me ask you this, Austin, how did you find out about what happened between my brother and Camilla?"

"Didn't you realize how loud your little brother was screaming yesterday? The whole damn backstage area heard what he was saying to him! If someone had their door open, they heard him."

"One more thing ..."

"What?"

"When will you ..."

"What?"

Randy stopped, knowing that this continue ad-nauseum and that Stone Cold was just ignoring anything he was saying.

"Glad to know that still works. Now listen here, Orton, I've been lookin' at more talent for my show and I found these two kids that I think would fit in well here. Not too different from you two either. I'm giving them a tryout match tonight against you two. Their names are Co..."

"Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase", came Matt's voice, who was now sitting up on his own accord. Randy instantly relayed the new information about Camilla to his brother so that he wouldn't go and attack the General Manager. "We met those assholes this morning at the gym. They told us they weren't going to face us for another couple of weeks."

"I'm moving them up. Edge & Christian are bugging me for a shot at your titles, so I want to get this over with. You're up after the next match. As for Goldberg", Austin added, turning to Dave and Eric, "if you've got a beef with him, his locker room is right down the hall. Have at 'em."

And with that, Stone Cold walked out of the room.

"You alright?", Randy asked his brother. Getting a nod in return, the two grabbed their belts and headed towards the stage. Nothing much was thought or said between the two until they reached the curtain.

"You're awfully quiet", said Randy. "Normally you would be chatting up a storm at this point."

"I'm still wondering who it was. If it wasn't Austin, then who else could it be? Edge? Christian? Jericho?"

"Matt, I know you want to wreck whomever took Camilla away from you, but you've got to focus on what's at hand _now_. I do _not_ want to get embarrassed by a pair of young, overconfident, cocky assholes."

"Sounds exactly like us, huh?", Matt said with a half-grin.

"Well ... yeah. If you think about it, it's probably why Austin's interested in the pair. Someone to come after us. That's why he brought Edge over. Edge and Christian? Remember the matches those guys had? Austin apparently holds the tag division in high regard."

"He damn well better", Matt replied. "You and I are the best tag team the WWE has to offer right now. Hell, you and I are the best _wrestlers_ the WWE has to offer, period."

After that was said, Test came out from behind the curtain, holding the back of his neck. A few seconds later, Scott Steiner emerged, a giant smile on his face. Randy stood in front of Matt; the older Orton never properly exacted his revenge on Steiner for assaulting his little brother. Steiner kept the smile on his face and walked away.

"I didn't know they were done", Matt said, referring to the fact that Test and Steiner were once a team.

"One less thing to worry about."

The sound of their theme music was their cue, and the brothers walked onto the stage, welcomed by the cheers of the crowd and Lilian's announcement.

"The following contest is a WWE Tryout match! If the rookie team wins the match, they will be granted a WWE contract and will appear on Monday Night RAW! Introducing first, at a combined weight of 464 pounds, they are the World Tag Team Champions, Matthew and Randy Orton!"

_"A tryout match?"_, thought Matt to Randy. _"So they win one match and they're in? That ain't right!"_

_"Not too different from what you went through, remember? As a matter of fact, you didn't even go through developmental before you got your tryout match. Even I had to go through developmental. These two have been in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a while now. Be grateful that your last name is Orton and you had a little bit of a backstory that pushed you through straight to the majors."_

_"Think that might be the reason they were targeting us?"_

_"They're probably targeting __**you**__, bro. Not us."_

Matt grimaced as he and Randy posed on the turnbuckles, the World Tag Team Championship belts proudly around their waists.

_"Know anything else about these kids? Their styles? Their ..."_

_"Listen to yourself! '... these kids?' Those two aren't too much younger than we are. I don't know much about their styles, but it won't matter. I'll beat them up, you make them tap out. Simple as that."_

_"Since when am __**I**__ the submission specialist?"_, Matt thought to Randy as a generic theme song played, signaling the entrance of Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.

_"That's what your best at. Sure, you do everything, but you've come up with some weird stuff in the practice matches you have with Eric in the backyard. You can come up with something creative now, right? Besides, I'm more of a brawler anyway."_

Randy stayed in their corner as Matt hopped onto the apron. Cody was going to start for his team, but immediately pointed to Matt as the bell rang. Randy looked back at his brother and shrugged his shoulders.

_"I told you"_, he thought as he extended his hand to his brother for the tag. Matt obliged and hopped in, staring Cody Rhodes straight in the eye. After a second or two, Matt raised a hand up to start a test of strength. Cody smirked, looking around to the crowd and drawing some boos after not immediately accepting.

_"What the hell is up with these guys?"_, Matt thought. _"They don't even have contracts yet and they're acting like they own the place!"_

_"They're the sons of WWE legends, Matt. They have a right to act the way they do."_

Cody finally started to reach for Matt's hand, Orton ready to shift gears if Cody should try to fake him out. Indeed he did, and Cody managed to lift his foot into Matt's stomach faster than he could move. Surprised and out of air, Matt fell to his knees, only to receive repeated forearms to the back from Rhodes. Cody got Matt to his feet and pushed him over to their corner, where Cody began to stomp Matt in the chest. The ref counted to four, and Rhodes backed off before getting himself disqualified. The ref delivered a verbal reprimand to Rhodes. Unfortunately for Matt, the referee's back was completely turned to Dibiase, who used the opportunity to shove his foot against Matt's throat. Randy saw this and yelled at the ref to pay attention; the ref turned around, but Ted had already put his foot back on the apron. The image of Matt being choked reminded Randy too much of what he went through before with Batista; he motioned to the crowd to start a chant to try to rally Matt to his feet. Rhodes returned to the corner and tagged Dibiase, who then imitated Cody's stomping. Randy could start to feel the pain in Matt's chest in his own; this only prompted him to stomp his own foot down on the apron harder to get Matt's adrenaline rushing. The ref pushed Ted back in the same way Cody did; Rhodes started to choke Matt just like his partner did.

In an act of desperation, Matt lifted a fist into Rhodes' stomach, catching Cody much like Cody caught Matt at the beginning of the match. Orton leaped up and grabbed Cody's head, bringing his neck down onto the top rope and sending Cody down to the floor. Randy let out a resounding yell of approval before Matt spun Ted around and kicked him in the stomach. Orton put Dibiase's head under his arm and executed a sloppy MKO, bringing both competitors down hard to the mat. Matt was still coughing, trying to regain his bearings while Ted's eyes looked glazed over. Randy's body was nearly hanging over the top rope, his hand outstretched to his brother, frothing at the mouth to get into the action. Lightheaded and stunned by the intensity of the lights hanging overhead, Matt looked around, trying to find the corner where Randy was standing. Seeing his brother's hand, Matt stepped over the body of Ted, only to get his ankle grabbed, bringing Matt to one knee. Orton forcefully shoved his foot into Dibiase's face, freeing his ankle. Matt got to his feet and made the tag, getting a wave of cheers from the crowd. Randy ran to the opposite corner and clubbed a recovering Cody Rhodes, who dropped to the floor yet again. Dibiase was now getting to his feet; Randy whipped him to the ropes and caught him in a spinning powerslam! Ted stumbled back to his feet, only to walk into Randy's signature inverted backbreaker.

Matt held his hand out for a tag, and Randy was happy to do so. Although the ref was counting, the brothers didn't care; Ted Dibiase was about to get double RKOed. Once Ted turned around, Randy and Matt each started the motion. Dibiase, however, immediately stepped back a couple of steps. The brothers turned around only to receive a clothesline for their troubles. Ted picked up Randy and applied some sort of sleeper hold; Matt surmised it to be a cobra clutch once he got to his feet. Matt was still the legal man, however. Randy had the wherewithal to push himself back hard enough to propel Dibiase into the corner, breaking the hold. The older Orton flung himself forward into Cody Rhodes, who was climbing into the ring; Cody and Randy collided hard and fell out to the floor together. Matt positioned himself behind a stumbling Ted and locked in his own sleeper hold. Orton could see his brother walking around to their corner and Randy extended a hand for a tag.

_"What do you have in mind?"_

_"Just follow my lead."_

With his free hand, Matt tagged in his brother and stood on the apron. Randy lifted a groggy Ted onto the turnbuckle, then carefully positioned Ted to where Dibiase was sitting on Randy's shoulders. Randy extended his hand to Matt for one more tag.

_"Make my RKO look good, bro."_

With a giant grin, Matt made the tag, climbed up onto the turnbuckle, and waited for Randy to position himself just right. Taking a deep breath, Matt flung himself forward, grabbed Ted's head, and brought him crashing down with an RKO. Randy kept an eye out for Cody as Matt went for the cover.

"1, 2, 3!"

His back stinging from the fall, Matt was lifted to his feet by his brother and the pair celebrated with their tag team belts on the turnbuckle.

_"What the hell were they thinking?"_

_"I don't know, but they won't be bothering us any time soon."  
_

"Here are your winners ...", Lilian began.

The sound of glass shattering interrupted Lilian's announcement, and Stone Cold made his way onto the stage, microphone in hand. The brothers looked at the retreating duo of Rhodes and Dibiase, then at the General Manager.

"Well, boys", Austin said, pointing towards the losers of the match, "you lost. But I saw potential out there. But you aren't the only team bugging me for their shot. So here's what I'm gonna do. Next week, I'm going to give you kids another chance to earn contracts! It will be Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase up against ..."

Naturally, Austin paused, raising the tension in the air. In the ring, Randy and Matt looked incredulously at the GM at why he would give Rhodes/Dibiase another shot.

"... Edge and Christian! If you boys win, you get your contracts! If Edge and Christian win, they'll meet the tag champs for the titles!"

* * *

_- Will Ted and Cody continue to be a thorn in the side of the Ortons? Or will Edge and Christian put an end to the career dreams of the young tag team?_

_- Matt still has it in for the person he heard Camilla with. With Austin now off his suspect list, who will he investigate next?_

_- Jeff Hardy hasn't forgotten about the Intercontinental belt around Randy's waist, but it seems that everyone else has forgotten just that. Hardy will have to do something to bring the Intercontinental title back to the forefront of Monday Night RAW._

_- Eric and Batista confront the new #1 contender to John Cena's World Heavyweight Championship. Will it go off without a hitch?_

_Sorry this one took so long! Please read and review!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	14. Plea

_- After a no-nonsense training session in the backyard, Randy and Matt discover something in the mail that makes the week a little bit easier.__  
_

_- Eric and Dave both work together to find a way around Goldberg's designation as #1 contender to John's World Heavyweight Championship._

_- An agitated Jeff Hardy attempts to take out his frustrations concerning the Intercontinental Championship on one of the Ortons._

_

* * *

_

Amy sat down on the back patio, sipping a drink that Eric made for her. Barringer himself then stepped out of the sliding back door, carrying a bowl of unsalted and unbuttered popcorn.

"It's like we're watching the training montages from the Rocky movies", mentioned Amy as Eric sat down in a chair next to her. Randy and Matt were in the backyard ring, where each was teaching each other a little bit more about each of their styles. Randy had been making Matt more of a brawler for the last thirty minutes, and Matt was now teaching his brother some of his submission maneuvers, including some of his last-minute inventions.

"Try this one. Say you've got someone in a sleeper hold", Matt reached around Randy's neck, but Randy pushed him away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa ... you're just gonna make me pass out. I know you too well."

"Randy, you just spent the better of a half-hour making me a better wrestler. You were 100 percent serious during your little tutorial. The least I can do is give you the same back. Now calm down and let me show you this."

Randy slowly backed down and turned his back to Matt. As Matt wrapped his arm around Randy's neck, Eric reached for the popcorn with a grin on his face

"Is Matt gonna do it?", Amy asked Eric, remembering that Eric could read Matt's mind.

"I can't tell. Matt's got his mind closed off to me. But I wouldn't put it past him."

In the ring, Matt now told Randy the next step.

"Now get on your stomach."

"You've **got **to be kidding me."

"Do you want to learn the damn move or not? I didn't whine when you kept showing me how do that inverted backbreaker of yours!"

Narrowing his eyes at his brother, Randy reluctantly did so after exhaling. Matt then reached back and pulled one of Randy's legs back in a half-Boston crab while simultaneously tightening his grip around his brother's neck. The combination of his quad being stretched and the vice-like feeling around his neck caused Randy to almost immediately tap out, only lasting a couple of seconds. Matt let go and jumped to his feet.

"Where ... *cough* ... the hell did ... *cough* ... did you learn _that_?"

"Devastating, isn't it? It's sort of like John's STFU, but with an Orton twist. And since you're taller and you have longer arms than I do, you'll be able to pull it off easier than I can. Now try it on me."

"Gladly", Randy said with a streak of anger in his voice. He spun his brother around, locked in a sleeper hold, and continued through with the rest of the hold. Confirming Matt's thoughts, Randy was able to pull Matt's leg further back and was even able to squeeze Matt's neck harder than usual. The younger Orton tapped out in even less time that his brother. Randy let go, and stood up, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Damn ...", Matt said after getting up, "... angry much? You _do _realize I'm trying to help you, right?"

"Sorry," Randy said after a little chuckle. "I had to show you up. You know I don't like tapping out to you."

"Really, dude? I'm trying to help you out here! If you pulled my leg back any further, you could have ripped my quad! If you want to hold on to our tag titles, take this a little bit more damn seriously!"

Randy could sense the irritation in Matt's voice and the smile vanished. Randy nodded and Matt continued with the tutorial, albeit with the same edge that Randy demonstrated just previously. Eric and Amy watched the training intently, digging through to the bottom of the popcorn bowl. Once it was clean, Eric leaped up to head to the kitchen, but ran smack into an incoming John Cena.

"Whoa there!", John exclaimed. "Is your little mini-movie entertaining enough for you to rush back to the kitchen like you were waiting to use the bathroom!"

"You obviously haven't seen these two when they're pissed off at each other. It's more entertaining than a hell of a lot of things. Now move!"

John rolled his eyes and took a step to the side, letting Eric head off to the kitchen to pop some more popcorn. He took a third empty seat and slid it over next to Amy, and started to go through the envelopes in his hands.

"You're going through their mail now?", Amy asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"What? I get fan mail sometimes!", John continued to rife through the mail and pulled out one envelope addressed to him. However, the next envelope made his eyes widen. He showed it to Amy, who also looked surprised.

"Hey, Matt! You might want to take a look at this! It's from Camilla's lawyer!"

Both Ortons stopped in the middle of what they were doing. Randy let go of his brother's arm, disengaging the armbar that Matt had taught him. Holding his arm close to his body, Matt slid out of the ring and headed towards John, who tossed him the envelope in question. Randy looked over Matt's shoulder as he was opening the letter.

"Signed divorce papers ...", Matt said, the smile on his face making the pain in his arm evaporate. "That was fast. Amy, you haven't seen her backstage any, have you?"

"Nope, ever since me and Eric beat you and her in that tag team match, no one has seen or heard from her. It's like you shoved her off the edge of the world!"

"Couldn't be anymore perfect, huh?", commented Randy.

"Well, she could have _not_ cheated on me in the first place. But given the situation, I guess you're right. I'm officially single now, and we're both making ourselves better wrestlers. You know, John", Matt said, looking in Cena's direction. "If we didn't have the tag team titles, you would have to worry about us in addition to the threesome that's fighting it out for you now."

"Consider me grateful then", John replied. "You two are a pain in the rear to handle in the ring."

The back door slid open forcefully and Eric came back with another giant bucket of popcorn. With pieces flying out of the container, Eric ran over and reclaimed his seat, ready to watch the action.

"Awwww ... you're done?", he said to the brothers after a quick mind read.

"Yep", replied Matt. "I think we've had enough of each other for now. You should train with John now. Maybe he'll show you a thing or two."

"What?", John yelped. "When I've still got him breathing down my neck for my title? No way!"

Eric narrowed his eyes and was about to say something, but Amy reached into the popcorn, pulled out a handful, and shoved it straight in Eric's mouth.

"The _last_ thing I need is him running his mouth right now."

Matt picked up a nearby towel and wiped the sweat off himself as he and Randy walked back into the house. Randy paused for a bit, which caused Matt to do the same after a second or two. Matt could sense a change in Randy's demeanor.

_"You __**really **__okay about this?"_, Randy asked, in reference to receiving the divorce papers. _"From what I could tell, you put on a show to try to hide how you really feel."_

_"You know how I really feel. You've been through something like this before with Jennifer and Torrie, remember? You think you've found the one, she goes and cheats behind your back, and you feel like complete and utter crap once you've found out about it."_

Matt paused, thinking that Randy would say something, but got nothing in response. Instead, he continued.

_"Listen ... one thing that I've learned is that a lasting relationship doesn't just spring up overnight. It takes time to develop. I'm not saying that your relationship with Lilian or Eric's relationship with Amy is doomed to fail. As a matter of fact, I hope both of you live happy lives with them for the rest of your days. Me ... I latch onto someone and put all my emotion into that person. And when something happens, I feel like a piece of me has been burglarized. Why do I feel like I've said this for the umpteenth time?"_

Another pause.

_"You done?"_, Randy asked. _"Listen, I'm sorry I asked. I didn't want you getting all depressed from it. Just let it go for now. Don't think about it. I've got a better idea. You want to go play some Madden?"_

Matt's head cocked to the side in surprise. "**You** want to play a video game?", Matt said outloud. "Since when?"

"To make you feel better. You'll have to teach me though; I don't know a damn thing when it comes to it."

* * *

Monday came sooner than the group expected. With less energy than usual, the whole gang trudged into the locker room after arriving at the arena in Portland, Oregon. Randy noticed Eric and Dave walk out of the room as soon as they put their bags down.

_"Where are you two going?"_, Randy asked.

_"To conduct some business with Goldberg and Austin, if you get my drift."_

Randy wanted say something back, not wanting to advocate brute force, but instead held back his comments. Barringer and Batista left the room, leaving the brothers, Cena, and Amy behind.

"Ya know," John piped out of nowhere. "I've been thinking lately."

"Now _there's_ something you don't hear every day", quipped Randy, getting a good laugh out of his brother. John shot Randy an annoyed look before continuing.

"The same could be said for you too, blockhead", John shot back. Matt started to laugh even harder now, prompting Randy to shove Matt off the bench he was sitting on. John resumed. "Now then ... I was thinking that maybe its a good thing that someone new is getting a shot at the World title."

Amy's eyebrows shot up this time, and the brothers were quick to prevent Eric from reading their thoughts.

"Wait, so you _don't_ want to face Eric or Dave?", Amy asked teasingly. "Are you _scared_?"

"Never scared, girl. But if we keep facing each other for titles, there could be _a lot _of internal tension between all of us. That's what caused Batista to flip out in the first place, remember? It was part of the reason I went rogue too. And when Randy and Matt start fighting each other for this big gold belt, who knows what may erupt? I mean, they're fine right now with the Intercontinental belt, but what's gonna happen when they butt heads over the biggest prize on RAW? I'm just tryin' to be realistic here."

Randy took a long look at Matt before saying, "When it comes time for that, we'll be able to deal with it. That belt is a very big deal to us, and we're capable of putting all funny business aside in order to decide which one of us is truly the better man. As for us "erupting" ... I would _**never**_ do something like that to my brother. I was born to protect him. And I'm 100 percent certain that I can trust Matt to take the same attitude that I do."

Matt nodded in affirmation. "Never in a million years. Randy was made to protect me and I was made to look up to him as a role model. Hell, he's been more of an inspiration than either of my dads."

Albeit still skeptical, Cena slightly nodded, then cast his gaze to the floor. "You two have one hell of a bond. I need something like _that_ in my life."

Matt wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so, not wanting to agitate the sometimes oversensitive emotions of John. Neither Randy nor Amy had anything else to say either, causing everyone to hear John's long, drawn-out sigh.

"Don't ever stop", John said to the brothers before getting up and heading to the bathroom. Matt let out a sigh of his own before saying ... "Sometimes _**had**_ to have happened to him in his past that causes him to have such sudden mood swings."

"It was probably the college thing. When he didn't let that kid get into the frat", Randy replied. "John's never really had a friend or someone he can 100 percent trust besides you. And when he turned his back on you, that destroyed the little shard of hope he had to hold on to. Personally ... I just think he needs to get laid." This prompted a pair of strange glares from Amy and Matt. "Seriously! If he had someone else besides us to be with him and take his mind off things, he'd be in a much better overall mood."

"So ...", Amy began, "... should I try to set him up with someone or what? I know a few of the girls who have the hots for him. I could get you", she said, turning to Matt, "another date too."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think dating within the company is such a good idea anymore. Besides, I don't want to get to something like that for a little while longer. John hasn't told us much, if anything, about his love life or lack thereof. Let me see if I can coerce something out of him later."

After Randy grabbed his gear to go change, the front door opened, revealing Eric and Dave, who looked like they hadn't broken a sweat after pursuing Goldberg and/or Austin.

"They couldn't have been _that_ easy to subdue", Amy said as Eric sat down next to her. "Did you get some sort of deal out of Austin?"

"As a matter of fact, we did", Eric replied, his face beaming. "Didn't even have to do anything. We walked into Austin's office and he instantly lays down this plan. Dave gets Goldberg tonight. If he wins, he's added to the next World title match. Same thing happens for me next week. Dave's match tonight is right after Matt's."

"Austin mention who I'm pummeling into the ground tonight?", Matt said with an almost devilish grin and a clenched fist.

"Hardy. Jeff pretty much demanded it from Austin, from what he told us while we were in his office. If you lose, Jeff gets a shot at Randy's title next week."

Matt rolled his eyes and put his face in his hands as Randy came back from the changing room. The older brother slapped his younger sibling on his back before saying, "Well ... that shouldn't be much trouble, right? I don't have anything to worry about?"

"Your title's safely on your waist, but I would think that Jeff getting manhandled in the Chamber would have been enough to set him straight."

"And you say _you're_ the smart one", mouthed off Randy. "Of course he'll come back for us. Until he wins my belt, he won't back off. Then again, he won't ever win. So, we get to put up with his crap for a very, very long time. Besides, you'll crush him like a bug. What on earth do we possibly need to worry about?"

* * *

About a half hour later, Matt was waiting behind the curtain with his half of the World Tag Team Championship around his waist. To gain favor with the fans, he sported a black, red, and silver pair of tights to match the colors of the hometown team, the Portland Trail Blazers. Matt needed all the support he could get against Hardy, who still seemed to have a solid fan backing despite his recent actions. Hardy had already made his way out to the ring, probably staring Randy down, who was sitting at the announce table with J.R. and the King. Jeff's music was still playing, so Matt's eyes started to wander around the area. His eyes landed on his boots, noticing that the laces on his left foot were loose. After bending down to correct the problem, a familiar scent filled the hallway.

_"Honey ..."_, Matt thought to himself._ "... Where is she?"_

Before he could take a look around, Matt's theme music startled him, cuing him to head onstage. After posing to his pyro, Matt looked to the ring, and what he saw confirmed his suspicions; Jeff was too focused on the Intercontinental belt on Randy's shoulder. That scent of honey was still in the back of Matt's mind as he posed on the turnbuckle, keeping a careful gaze on Jeff. The bell rang to start the match, and Randy started to converse with the two men beside him.

"Randy, what do you think of the new attitude that Jeff Hardy has taken up over the last month or so?", J.R. asked. "He's more brash, more aggressive, and hasn't taken much of a liking to you or your brother."

"To be honest, J.R., I would think that Jeff would be a little bit more respectful towards us", Randy replied as he watched Matt execute a round of suplexes on Hardy. "Matt and I helped free Jeff from a life of terror and imprisonment caused by his pathetic excuses for an older brother."

"One could make the argument that, since your title hasn't been on anyone else besides yourself or your brother, Jeff thinks he deserves a title shot", Lawler added.

"Matt and I have kept this title between us because no one else is on our level. No one else in the WWE is qualified to take it away from us. Same with the World Tag Team titles. Jeff Hardy had his chance at Unforgiven and he failed. Hardy is getting desperate and he's scared of not being considered for this belt."

It was as if Jeff had heard what Randy said. Matt was prone on the ground after being the victim of a bulldog from Jeff, giving Hardy a chance to stare Randy down once again. The elder Orton stood up, took off his headset, and stood as close to the ring as he could. The ref immediately came over and yelled at Randy to sit back down, threatening to throw him out to the locker room. In reality, Randy was giving Matt an opportunity to recover and get up. Matt did just this and crept back to his feet, holding up three fingers to the crowd, his signal for his signature Triple Powerbomb. The crowd suddenly got louder, and Matt thought it was in response to his signal. However, Matt heard someone slide into the ring behind him. Orton turned to face the newcomer, only to see something shine before falling hard to the ground. Matt lay limp on the ground as the assailant escaped back up the ramp. Hardy took advantage of this and leapt up to the turnbuckle. Without even a second passing, Jeff landed the Swanton Bomb and went for the three count as Randy started to chase the attacker. However, Randy's sprint came to a screeching halt when he realized just who attacked Matt.

As the bell rang and Hardy was declared the winner of the match, Camilla stood at the top of the ramp, holding a pair of brass knuckles high in the air.

* * *

_There is no real excuse for me taking this long. I just haven't worked on this lately. I'm extremely sorry and I promise to be more consistent in the future._

_- Matt and Randy speculate as to the real reason John's attitude is in the dumps._

_- An unlikely match with an unlikely stipulation greets Matt next Monday night._

_Hope you liked this one! Read and review please!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	15. Prophecy

_- Matt has time to recuperate and to think as he and Randy stay ringside to watch the match between Edge & Christian and Ted Dibiase & Cody Rhodes. Will the two young hotshots earn their full-time WWE contracts? Or will Edge & Christian continue to build momentum towards a World Tag Team Championship match with the brothers?_

_- During Dave's match with Goldberg, Matt tries to shake off the humiliation of getting socked by his ex-wife while Randy tries to unearth exactly why John is so down in the dumps._

_- When the gang finally gets home, a phone call sucks much of Matt's improving attitude out of him._

_

* * *

_

A trainer brought a small ice pack down to where Matt and Randy were sitting next to the announce table. Slightly irritated, Matt snatched the ice pack out of the trainer's hand before applying it to his quickly swelling right eye. Randy apologized for Matt's ticked-off attitude.

_"I can't blame you for being mad"_, Randy thought to his brother, _"but don't take it out on the poor guy. He's just trying to help you."_

_"I know ... I'm sorry"_, Matt thought back. _"Head's pretty clouded up. Didn't see that coming at all. At freakin' all. Brass knuckles too, huh? I could just ..."_ Matt's right hand acted like it was choking someone midair. After a moment, Matt's hand returned back to a rest position. _" ... dammit. What is she trying to turn me into? She gets on my bad side ... in order to win me back? All she's asking for is a fight!"_

_"Camilla's got a bigger backbone than most women. Honestly, her behavior isn't all that surprising. We should have seen something like this coming."_

_"But she still claims that she loves me! Why the hell would she cost me a match and a good portion of my pride by knocking me out in front of millions of people!"_

Randy thought for a short moment before replying ... _"Tough love?"_

Matt rolled his eyes at the cliché and struck his brother with the back of his hand. _"Remind me to kick your ass when we get home. You're not helping."_

The sound of Edge & Christian's music broke their concentration. The next match would determine who would be the next speedbump in the road Matt and Randy were driving on. Matt eyed ... with his one good eye ... the Canadian duo carefully; Orton was still on the hunt for the person who took Camilla away from him. Other than the people in the family, Matt had just about everyone on his suspect list, with Edge & Christian in the top two spots. The two brothers in the ring returned the wary glares as Rhodes & Dibiase made their way down. The two Ortons had originally planned to interfere in the match, but with Matt's new condition, they would have to choose another time for their battle.

_"We could still do it ..."_, Matt thought. _"... just a quick strike. Destroy each of them and leave the ring."_

_"I think I'd rather see one come out on top then having both of them come after us at once. Austin might punish us for interfering by making us face both teams for our belts. I know you want to smash somebody's face right now, but think before you act. That's something you taught me."_

_"Sorry. With all this crap happening to me at once, my head can't catch up with what's going on."_

The bell rang, and Edge and Ted Dibiase started to go at it in the ring. Christian was at the corner nearest to the announce table and nearest to both Randy and Matt. Cody Rhodes was on the opposite side of the ring, and instead of focusing on the match at hand, Cody seemed to be fixated on Matt's face, with a slightly snarled grin on his own face. Matt looked over at his brother, who promptly shrugged his shoulders.

_"Creepy shit"_, added Randy.

_"He just wants a piece of me while I'm down. They both do. Cocky little twerps. They've hardly had any in-ring matches and they think they can just come in here and be given full-time contracts with just one match! Famous last names can only get you so far!"_

Randy looked at Matt for a second to see if he realized what he just said. _"You do know that's exactly what you did, right? You found out your last name was Orton, trained for a little while, won one match, and they gave you a spot on the roster. You didn't do things too differently from what these two are trying to accomplish."_

Matt realized his hypocrisy, but came up with a counter. _"I proved myself. I beat Cena. I went on to challenge Kane to a Hell in a Cell match. I went on to come this close ..."_, Matt held his pointer finger and his thumb millimeters from each other, _"... to winning the Royal Rumble. I went on to reinstate the Intercontinental ..."_

_"Ok, alright ... jeez. I get it by now."_

_"My point is that Rhodes & Dibiase have done nothing to prove that they can earn those contracts. If they wanted them as bad as I did, Ted and Cody would have won that match against us. They're extremely lucky Austin gave them another chance."_

By now, Cody had tagged himself in, and Ted was now on the apron glaring at Matt with a grin on his face. Somewhat irritated, Matt threw down the bag of ice and stood up from his chair, getting the attention of not only Ted, but also Christian, the announcers, the whole crowd, and the referee. Dibiase jumped down from the ring apron and came within inches of Matt's bruised face. Randy stood right behind Matt, ready to lend a hand if things should turn sour. The ref started to yell at Randy and Matt, urging them to sit back down. The two didn't heed a word of what said to them. Unfortunately for Cody, Christian decided to take advantage of the situation. He jumped into the ring and lifted a boot swiftly into Cody's crotch, bringing Rhodes to his knees quickly. Christian dashed back to the apron as Edge set Cody up for the Edgecution. After delivering the jumping DDT, Edge obtained the three-count before Ted realized what was going on.

Matt started to have a fit of laughter while Randy stood with a satisfied smirk on his face. Ted, on the other hand, looked like he had just been fired; with his hands behind his head, he fell to his knees, staring blankly at an unconscious tag team partner on the canvas in front of him. Matt continued his laughter, doubling over at Ted's misfortune. But in the blink of an eye, something impacted the side of his head, and the younger Orton went tumbling down to the floor. Dibiase had bolted down to ringside and released his frustrations by slamming his fist into Matt's temple as he was laughing. Randy immediately responded by grabbing Ted by the neck and slamming the back of his head into the nearby ringpost. Orton stood there pressing Dibiase into the cold metal, his wrathful glare piercing Ted's glazed-over face.

_"... let him go."_

Matt's feeble-sounding thought entered his head, causing Randy to turn around and let go of Dibiase, who then sunk limp to the floor. Matt was being helped up, oddly enough, by Christian, who backed away when he realized Randy was turned towards him. Randy put Matt's arm around his shoulder and started to walk towards the ramp, eliciting a small round of applause from the crowd. Matt held up a fist as the duo passed through the curtains and to a nearby table. Randy put down his brother in a chair before putting his head down in his hands and sitting next to him, a boiling pot of anger, frustration, and worry.

"Why does everything happen to us?", Randy said, looking first skyward then over at Matt. "I'm so sick and tired of someone coming after me and you ... _especially_ you. Dibiase might have actually stood a chance in that match if he was paying attention. It's not your fault that he ..."

"Dude ... just shut it. My head hurts too much to comprehend what you're trying to say."

Randy's shoulders slunk down in disappointment; he really needed to get these thoughts off his chest and the one person who would listen to him wouldn't have any of it.

"Sorry."

"It's alright, dude. We'll talk about it later. Just get me an ice pack or something. If I don't have a concussion, I'll give my frickin' whole right arm to the Red Cross."

Randy managed a chuckle and headed off to the trainer's room, just a few doors down from where they were sitting. The trainer sat staring at the live monitor feed as if in a trance. Curious, Randy looked for himself. Ted Dibiase was in the middle of the ring with a microphone in one hand and a dazed Cody Rhodes in the other.

"You all think we're through?"

"**WHAT?**", responded the crowd, although it was quite obvious what their response really was.

"Despite what you all think ..."

"**WHAT?**"

"... Cody and I have had been here for a _very_ long time ..."

Randy's head cocked a little to the side at the mention of this.

"**WHAT?**"

"... and we will be here for even longer, whether _any _of you like it or not."

Ted threw the mic towards Lilian in disgust, then carried a still stunned Cody through the ropes and up towards the stage. The crowd was giving them the verbal boot, yelling obscenities and boos and throwing their concession trash at them. Backstage, Randy had asked the trainer for an ice pack and headed back towards Matt, but the thought of what Ted had said lingered in his mind.

_"He said this?"_, came a voice in his head. Randy looked to see his brother standing, leaning on the nearby brick wall. Smiling, Randy tossed the ice pack to Matt, happy to see him up.

_"Yeah. What the hell do you think they mean? We've only seen them once before the ring: that time we almost came to blows in that gym. But that can't be 'a very long time'."_

_"I don't know"_, Matt thought as he shifted the icepack on his head. _"They're trying to send us a message. Although they're doing a piss poor job of it. It take more than just a kick to the head and some empty words."_

Randy nodded and the both of them headed off back to the locker room for some much needed rest.

* * *

Randy had stuffed his duffel bag with clothes and towels to make a pillow for Matt, who had already lulled himself away to dream land on one of the locker room benches. Eric and Dave had left the room soon afterwards; Eric planned to do commentary just as Randy and Matt did at the tag match. Part of Randy wanted to sit and watch the monitor, watching Dave's impending Goldberg-slaughter. But right now, that wasn't the biggest thing on his mind. It always managed to come back to caring for his brother. Randy didn't care how childish or overbearing or mother-like his actions seemed to be. The blame he placed on himself for letting Matt get kidnapped in the first place overpowered everything else. Although the man who caused all of this was vanquished in flames, Randy still feared for Matt constantly throughout the day.

_Feared_ ... not concerned about.

Several times, Randy questioned if they were even in the right sort of business; after all, professional wrestling wasn't exactly the safest occupation you could have. But then soon afterwards, Randy knew that both of them would miss it dearly; their fighting spirits and cocky attitudes both fit the job description well. After all, they were born into a wrestling family. It was in their blood. In their genetics.

"Deep in thought, huh?"

Randy jumped a little, not expecting John's voice. Cena sat down next to Randy, placing his World Heavyweight Championship on the bench next to Randy's Intercontinental belt.

"Yeah ... I guess you could say that. Lot of things on my mind right now."

"Like what?"

"I get into the habit of caring way too much about Matt's safety. 'Obsessing' is the right word. Sometimes I get downright scared."

John silently sighed. "Well ... you two are brothers and you care for one another as if you would never see each other again if something bad happened. After what you guys have gone through, I guess something like that is normal."

Randy nodded his head in agreement. "But what made you join up with us in the first place?"

Cena looked at the man next to him in a funny manner, not anticipating the sudden change in subject. "Well ... I had respect for your brother after our match on Smackdown. He seemed like a cool guy. After I got traded to Raw, it seemed like a good idea at the time to join up with him. Besides, you and I were best friends back before we even joined the WWE. Remember what we went through together in OVW?"

Randy smirked, grabbing his World Tag Team Championship belt. "How could I forget? OVW Tag Team Champions. Remember your lame gimmick? 'The Prototype'? What the hell was that all about?"

"Oh, come on! Even my 'lame' gimmick was better than you not having one at all."

"John, I have _so_ much charisma that I don't need one. You and I held those belts to the day we got called up to the main WWE roster."

"When I found out that you had a brother, I knew that you two being tag champs would be inevitable. Imagine my surprise when Matt and I became tag champs before you two did! You and your brother have a gift."

"And so do you. You have us as your best friends. You have legions of fans that buy every piece of merchandise that has your name on it. What else could you want?"

"A relationship."

The bluntness of John's answer stunned Randy, stopping the automatic response he already had in mind. John's eyes started to glare downward at the grey concrete, not really looking at anything.

"I mean ...", John continued, "... all of you either had or have important and meaningful relationships. Me? Yeah, I've had flings. Girlfriends that lasted a week for whatever reason. But nothing holds a candle to you guys. Even Matt's relationship with Camilla was strong before she cheated on him."

Randy didn't know what to say. When he was talking with Matt, advice could come flowing out of his mouth like the Mississippi River feeding into the Gulf of Mexico. Now? ... there were some dams blocking the way.

"I ... I dunno, man. Are you even looking?"

"Not really. One of the Divas seemed interested in me earlier, but I don't even know her name. Shows you how much I pay attention to them."

"Well ... why not start there? What have you got to lose? Maybe she has a friend she can bring along for Matt."

John smiled a bit. "I thought Matt said he didn't want to date inside the company anymore."

"He didn't mean it. Matt wants someone just as badly as you do ... in more ways than one."

They both shared a laugh, remembering Matt's intermittent exhaustion from how active his sex life was with Camilla.

"Alright. I'll go through with it. I don't remember her name though. She's the Asian lady, the one who wears the sunglasses all the time."

Randy's eyes widened upon realizing that ... "Gail Kim! Gail Kim made a pass at you? If I were you, I'd hop on that _right _... _now_."

At the moment, the locker room door burst open and Dave Batista stormed inside, holding his chest with his left arm and demolishing the nearest locker door with his right. Eric walked tentatively behind him, not wanting to catch a stray punch.

"He lost."

Randy and John shot incredulous looks at one another, then looked over at Dave, who was now nursing his right hand.

"It ... it hurts to breathe", Dave managed to hiss out.

Eric winced, his shoulders sinking a couple of inches. "Broken ribs. And with the way you pounded that locker door, you probably have some sort of broken bone in your hand."

Batista shot a fiery glare over at Eric, instantly prompting John and Randy to appear at Eric's side. Every muscle in Batista's face was clenched, his teeth grinding themselves down, and his eyes were just a mere hair's length away from exploding out of his head.

"Knock me out, Barringer."

"What?", Eric said, taking a step forward.

"Just do what I tell you! Knock me the fuc..."

_SMACK!_

Eric had swiftly delivered Sweet Chin Music to Dave's cranium, causing him to crumple down against the locker door he destroyed.

"Dude...", John said, still reeling from what had just transpired in front of him.

"I have to admit...", Eric said with a smirk on his face, "... that felt kinda good. Part of me still hasn't forgiven what he did to us."

"Why did he ask you to do it?", Randy added, scratching his head in confusion.

"Beats me. I was only happy to oblige. I'm sure he'll tell us once he comes around."

Randy shrugged, still not fully understanding the situation. He also started to notice that the room ... well, _felt_ _happier_. He couldn't quite grasp it. An overwhelming feeling of joy caused him to grin uncontrollably. Looking over at his brother, Randy noticed that his brother was sitting upward, the pack of ice now melting on the floor. With the same broad grin on his face, Matt motioned for Randy to come and sit next to him.

_"I had a dream about you"_, Matt communicated. _"You were posing on the turnbuckle pointing to something in the rafters. You had the biggest smile on your face and I was at ringside clapping for you."_

_"Well ... it's a change from all those dreams you had before about someone knocking the crap out of you. Pointing to something in the rafters? What the hell?"_

_

* * *

_

That one dream was enough to bolster Matt's entire week. The memory of Camilla's brass knuckles and Ted's foot impacting the side of his head had been shoved onto the back burner, and the younger Orton was in good spirits. As Randy came inside from a long run in the hot summer weather, he could hear Matt and John working out in the weight room down the hall. John was apparently yelling at and encouraging Matt on some sort of lift. Randy walked by Lilian, who was seated in the recliner with what looked like a margarita in her hand, and peeled off his muscle shirt, causing Lilian to give off a little whistle. On the way to the downstairs shower, Randy peaked his head into the weight room. Matt was standing in front of a very loaded barbell ... almost 500 lbs, Randy counted ... and was glaring at it like it was the one whom Camilla had cheated on him with. John was giving Matt one hell of a pep talk, talking so fast and so loud that Randy could hardly understand what he was saying. Randy slipped out without saying a word, knowing that interrupting his brother's concentration would cost him a black eye or two.

Matt could hear John screaming at him, his words not penetrating his ears, but rather seeping into his skin. He needed all the positivity, all the encouragement, and all the rage from his training buddy right here and right now. This was going to be a personal record: a 515-pound deadlift. Taking another deep breath, Matt squatted down, making sure his feet and knees were ready for the load they were fixing to bear. John suddenly stopped talking, letting his workout bud take his last moments of focus.

Matt looked straight ahead at the wall of the room, and gave off a little nod.

_**"GO!"**_, John yelled out. Matt pulled himself up, pushing through his heels, keeping his back straight and his head up. Orton wobbled a bit midway through, but regained his balance after a small pause. Matt got the bar past his knees and pushed his hips forward, completing the positive part of the rep. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he carefully completed the negative part of the rep. But as the weight touched the ground, John said one word:

"**Again.**"

Orton looked up at Cena with a momentary "Are you kidding?" look, but quickly got back into the correct position. At John's directive, Matt pulled back again, but the work was twice as hard now. Matt's back, shoulders, and legs were subject to some of the greatest stress Matt had come upon in his life. Still, Orton pushed forward with more than what he had, locking out the rep and slowly descending until the weights clanged on the floor. Matt bent over in exhaustion and held his hand out for the water thermos he had near John's feet.

"**One more time.**"

Matt's eyes shot back up to John before saying out loud ... "You've got to be joking! Can't ... can't you see how much that took ..."

"You wan't to lift more than me one day, don't you? Quit your bitchin' and do it."

The frantic look on Matt's visage quickly disappeared; it was true that he wanted to be able to lift more than John. Plus, John rarely swore; Matt knew then John had to want this to happen. It took a moment for Orton to gather the strength to just get up and maintain his balance. The room started to swirl a bit, but Matt managed to squat down in front of the bar.

_"God help me."_

To John's surprise, Matt started the rep on his own. Orton was clearly struggling; the veins in his face, arms, and legs were all bulging in his skin. Matt started to grunt uncontrollably, hoping that the bar would just pass his knees. Immediately, Orton began to think of things and people he hated. Surprising himself, Camilla crept into his mind, flashing those brass knuckles that she knocked him out with on Monday. With a last surge of adrenaline from that thought, Matt pushed through and completed the rep, nearly dropping the bar on the floor. John had to catch Matt, who started to tumble over. Cena brought Orton the water bottle, which he quickly gulped down most of.

"Now _that's _what I'm talkin' about."

John slapped Matt on the back and stepped out of the room. To where, Matt didn't know. Orton laid down on the bench, his chest heaving with labored breath after labored breath. Matt dumped the remainder of his water all over him in an effort to cool himself down.

_"I'm going to be __**sore **__in the morning."_

Matt closed his eyes for a few seconds and took in some deep breaths, trying to restore his normal breathing pattern. Upon opening them, Matt jumped a bit; he hadn't expected to see his brother staring down at him.

"Workout hard enough?", Randy said sarcastically.

Matt threw Randy a dirty look and sat up. Randy passed him a towel and a protein shake.

"I could sense that you were under a lot of stress", Randy said. "As a matter of fact, it was such a strong feeling that I though you were in trouble. Then I remembered you were working out with John."

"515 pounds. 3 times. Beat that."

"You got me beat there, champ. I'm not a powerlifter. I hardly even deadlift."

Randy rolled his eyes upon seeing Matt smile and gloat. Out of the corner of his eye, Randy saw Matt's cell phone light up and vibrate. He grabbed the phone and shoved it in Matt's chest, nearly knocking his brother off the bench. Matt made a relaliatory swipe with the back of his hand and missed before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Enjoying your black eye I gave you?"

Matt closed his eyes and tensed every muscle in his body in an effort to control himself from flinging the phone across the gym.

"What the hell do you want, Camilla?"

"I hope it stays there for a very long time, Matt. Because that is just the first of a line of things to come if you don't take me back."

Matt looked at his brother, then shook his head in frustration, confirming his earlier thoughts about what Camilla might do.

"So let me get this straight. You think by knocking me out every chance you get, that you'll somehow convince me to be with you again? Do you realize how idiotic your 'plan' sounds?"

"I wouldn't call it 'idiotic'. I'd call it 'aggressive'. See you Monday."

Camilla hung up. Matt clicked the phone shut and dropped it in his lap. Randy could see Matt trembling and could feel how unstable his emotions were.

"Dude ... come on, don't let this ruin your day. Come with ..."

"It already _has_ ruined my day."

Randy paused, not sure what to say. "Listen. Go rinse yourself off, slam on some swim trunks, and come with me to the pool. We'll relax for the rest of the day. I'll get Lilian, John, and even Dave to come with us."

Matt stared at the floor for the next couple of seconds, but eventually nodded his head in affirmation. Randy managed a weak smile and left the room, presumably to change into some swimwear. Matt shook his head in disappointment one more time before picking up the phone and dialing a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Eric. How's Shawn?"

"He's up and walking, surprisingly. He's in real good spirits. But are you okay? You sound kinda pissed off."

"If you only knew, man. Anyway, can I talk to Amy?"

"Um ... yeah, sure. Hold on." Matt could hear what sounded like Shawn and his son playing outside before Amy was given the phone.

"Hey, Matt. Is everything all right?"

"Well ... not really. I just got a phone call from Camilla. Look ... she's planning something. I don't know what it is, but I do know that she will stop at nothing to get me back."

"Wait ... why are you telling me this?"

"Watch your back. And Eric's too. Hell, watch Shawn and his family too."

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you telling me this instead of Eric?"

"You can handle this better than him. Just promise me. Please?"

* * *

_Just what does Camilla have in store for the gang on Monday night? And why did Batista request to be knocked out?_

_Slowly, but surely._

_SuspiciousInitials_


	16. Troubled

**Holy crap, I'm sorry this took so long.**

_- John has summoned up the courage to go on a date. Randy arranges the occasion, but, as a condition, Gail asks to bring along a friend to date Matt. Will Randy be able to convince Matt to attend this blind date?_

_- It's Eric's turn to face Goldberg after Batista suffered his defeat. Before the match, however, Eric pokes and prods to find out the reason for Batista's strange request last week. _

_- As a result of Camilla's previous interference, Randy must face Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship. Before that match, however, Camilla calls out Matt and issues a challenge._

_

* * *

_

Matt Orton had never been so sore in his life. As was customary on the morning of a day off from touring with the WWE, Matt was pushed off his bed. Randy was only too happy to take over the job from Camilla; any little thing that badgered Matt anymore than usual was something Randy didn't hesitate to do. However, on this day, Matt couldn't get himself up. His entire lower back twinged with pain; the deadlifts that John forced Matt to do evidently took their toll. The scream that Matt let out alerted the entire house, sending John, Lilian, and Dave all up to Matt's room thinking that Randy had severely injured his brother. Batista rolled his eyes and left the room.

"No pain, no gain, buddy! You're doing it again next week!"

John left the room laughing after Matt threw him the finger. Lilian threw a tube of IcyHot to Randy, who stood there with a completely blank look.

"You expect _me_ to do this?"

"I didn't think you would want your wife rubbing her hands all over the lower back of her future brother-in-law. Besides, you two have wrestled each other wearing only tights and boots. You should be able to do it just fine."

Randy let out an exasperated sigh as Lilian turned away with a smirk and headed back downstairs. Orton looked down at his little brother, who gently shrugged his shoulders and slowly rolled over on his stomach.

"You owe me _big_ time, little man."

"I owe you _nothing_. I've given you massages, scratched your back, given you ice packs, dragged your unconscious body to the trainer's room, …"

"Alright, alright. Enough of your bickering."

"Bickering? Shut the hell up and do what Lilian told you to do."

"If you weren't in serious pain, I would make you cry 'uncle' sooooo fast …"

"How many times have I heard _that_ before?"

Randy slapped Matt hard in the back of the head and quickly moved away from him, using the fact that Matt couldn't move unless he wanted pain to course through his whole spinal cord. Matt gritted his teeth and planted his face in a pillow.

"_Just hurry up, dude. Please? Get over yourself and help me. And if you even so much as touch my ass, I'll..."_

Another slap to the back of the head, this time harder than the first. In a split second, Matt had grappled Randy off the side of the bed, sending both of them hard into a nearby wall. With Randy momentarily stunned, Matt used the small window of opportunity he had to deliver a quick one-two punch: one landed directly in Randy's stomach with the other square in his jaw. Randy coughed, trying to find his breath while Matt started to wince and buckle over as a result in the drop in painlessness from the dropping levels of adrenaline in his body. Matt managed to settle himself against the wall while Randy regained his breath, sitting up against the foot of the bed.

"_Care to explain why you did that?"_

"_Well, with me in perpetual pain and you annoying me … it shouldn't be a surprise that I snapped like that."_

"_Come on now, man … I'm just fuckin' with ya. I'm not trying to be mean. Get on the bed and I'll put the damn cream on you."_

Randy helped his brother up to the bed, where Matt promptly planted himself face down. Randy started to apply the IcyHot before trying to cheer Matt up.

"I don't know if you picked up on this already, but I've convinced John to go on a pseudo-blind date."

"_Pseudo_-blind date? How can you have one of those?"

"Well, John knows who he's taking out, but he doesn't really know anything about her other than what she looks like. Me and Lilian are going to go with them, but …", Randy drew on. Matt's eyebrow cocked itself, and his head gently turned towards his brother.

"But what? Does this involve me or something?"

"Gail only agreed to come if she can bring someone with her. She knows someone that's had her eye on you since you came to the company and since you're free now..."

Matt let out a rather large sigh, which Randy anticipated. "Gail will go out with John if I go out with this person … and _only_ if agree to do this?"

"Yep. Gail made it perfectly clear when Amy got ahold of her. Amy tried to figure out who Gail would bring, but Gail didn't give any info up. Looks like you would go in fully blind on this one."

With most of the IcyHot rubbed in, Matt gingerly drew himself up and sat down on the end of the bed. A small pain caused him to sharply breath in, but Orton let it go, looking up to the ceiling to get his bearings back. A short moment passed where Matt looked down at the floor and closed his eyes.

"Fine! Fine. But I'm doing this for John and only for John. I don't care who it is Gail brings. I'm going to …"

"Come on, dude! You have to at least pretend you're interested in her! Look, maybe you can get a one-night-stand out of this."

Matt slowly turned his head towards Randy with his eyes wide open and his mouth ajar. "... you really just didn't say that. You really, really just didn't say that. You think I would …"

"Okay, okay. Maybe that went a little too far. But I'll say the same thing to you that I did to John. What have you got to lose? You'll meet the chick, have some grub, maybe go out to a bar, and who knows what'll happen after that? Maybe you'll bone her. Maybe you'll find out you like each other. Maybe you'll find the real love of your life! You can't just stymie around in your own pond of sorrow and depression just because …"

"**Enough**!", Matt blurted out, bringing Randy to an immediate halt. "I get it. I don't want to hear it anymore. I hear the same thing from you and Eric nearly every goddamn day and I'm sick of it. Look. I'll do whatever you want me to do, okay? If this means that I make a friend, so be it. Most of all, I'm doing this for John. He needs this more than me."

"I'd say you need this just the same as John does. Your temper has been shorter than usual lately. I can't mess with you as much without you exploding at me, just like you did right now."

Matt took a deep breath and his eyes floated down to the floor. "When would this happen?"

"Tuesday night. Assuming that none of us are injured after Monday."

"Count me in, I guess", Matt said, gently standing as to not aggravate his back. "But I'm not going in with any expectations."

"Good!", Randy exclaimed. "That's the way it should be. Just relax and have a good time! Now, come on. I'll help ya downstairs. I can warm up some of Dave's steak that we have left over from the other night for us." The elder Orton got up and headed down stairs, leaving Matt to his own machinations. Matt hesitated a bit before stepping towards the door. He looked back at the spot where Camilla's bed once was. The imprints in the carpet were still somewhat visible, bringing back the image of Camilla sitting on the edge of it, a sly smile on her face. Another large sigh escaped Matt's lips before he stepped out of the room.

* * *

After changing into his ring gear, Randy Orton shoved his gym bag in a locker at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The family was lucky to not have to be on a plane this week; this allowed for some extra sleep and relaxation before just driving to the arena. Earlier that week, Randy saw his brother scarf the rest of the leftover steak, but he noticed that something was still wrong with him, even after their conversation in Matt's room. However, Randy decided to let it slide; he didn't want to bring it up and sour Matt's mood for any upcoming matches.

Eric Barringer came out of the changing room in his red outfit, his red bandanna tied around his upper arm. Sitting next to his fiancee, Eric looked over to his best friend, who was also dressed for action; Matt was standing at the door to the locker room looking out down the hall. From what Eric could tell, Matt wasn't really looking at anything. Like Randy, he could feel some sort of unusual aura come from Matt in the last couple days. Matt was wanting something … Eric couldn't put his finger on it exactly, although he had a couple of guesses.

Dave Batista didn't have the ability to communicate telepathically with Matt, but he too could sense that something was wrong with the man. He could tell that Matt was lamenting the fact that Camilla was no longer there with him. After all, Dave himself had gone through … or rather, is going through … the same deal with his ex-wife. Batista had just gotten better at hiding the pain. Over time, Dave had come up with techniques to deal with it. Matt would have to, in Dave's opinion, come up with something similar in his own way.

Matthew Orton's eyes were fixated at a single spot on the brick wall in front of him. He knew that Randy and Eric were on to him. Hell, he even knew that Dave, Amy, and Lilian had picked up on his emotions. Matt knew it was hard for him to disguise a powerful emotion such as what he was experiencing right now. The only thing that Matt could look forward to was the blind date on Tuesday. Matt had no idea what was going on tonight in terms of matches, but tomorrow night was going to be the bright spot on the horizon for him.

After a few more seconds, the opening fireworks for tonight's show finished. Randy would face Jeff in the main event of the night. Goldberg would have to face Eric, and if Eric won, he would join Goldberg and Cena in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

"Matt?", called Amy from the locker room. "You might want to see this."

Breaking away from his temporary fixation, Matt turned around and looked at the monitor. A slight sneer popped up on his face upon seeing the face of the person with a microphone

"I made a statement last week", emphatically claimed Camilla, much to the disappointment of the crowd. "With the power of one punch, I leveled a former Intercontinental Champion and one of the current World Tag Team Champions. I can also tell you right now that I have made that same person _tap out_ numerous times! I have made him cry like a little child time after time again before he slaps his hand down on the ground! I have …"

Music interrupted Camilla's proclamation. "Burn In My Light" caused the crowd to rebel against her, and Matt Orton strolled down the ramp. It was no secret to anyone in the crowd or at home about the degree of Camilla's infidelity. Lilian, who was scowling at Camilla the whole time, gladly handed over her microphone to Matt. Matt carefully climbed into the ring, his eyes on Camilla's hands to keep watch for any sort of movement. "Camilla, I don't know what you're trying to do here. I really don't. Just a week or two ago, you were begging me to come back to you. And then last Monday, you cause me to lose a match by knocking me out with a weapon. I need you to set the record straight for not only myself, but my family as well as all the people here in the building and at home. What _exactly_ are you trying to accomplish?"

Camilla didn't provide an immediate answer. Peering into her eyes, Matt, if only no more than a moment, saw Camilla's eyes water.

"You know I want you back! You've known it since you dumped me! But … but you **refuse** to even give me a second thought! You …"

"_Refuse_?", Matt asked. "Really, Camilla? _Really?_ I told you several times to go see someone about your addiction, but you can't get it through your **thick** head that you have a problem! What I don't get is that you let it get so bad that you cheated on me to satisfy yourself! What I don't get is that, even though we had a near-perfect relationship …"

Matt's mind raced back to the Royal Rumble. He knew that he, in part, was to blame for this for even taking Camilla back after she made a move at Randy.

"… even though we had something truly special, you decided to drop everything we had done in the trash just to get yourself off! You … have … a … **problem**. Going around knocking me out isn't going to make you feel better! Coming out here and berating me in front of all these people isn't going to make you feel better!" By this point, Orton had been inching closer to Camilla and was now nearly toe-to-toe with her. Additionally, his volume had been increasing steadily; Matt realized this and brought it back down to the ground. "You're putting this 'tough girl' persona on just to hide the fact that you can't accept your failure!"

_**SLAP!**_

Randy quite literally felt that sting backstage. Immediately afterwards, he felt Matt's temper rise to a level he knew would be troublesome.

"_Keep your cool, man", _Randy thought to his little brother. _"Don't let this get to you. Do you really want to be seen hitting a woman?"_

Amy bolted off in the direction of the ring despite Eric's protest. Meanwhile …

"Hah! 'Tough girl', huh? So you deny what I said, right? You deny that I made you tap out? You deny that I made you cry like a little kid?"

Matt's eyes finally landed back on Camilla. Both of them had the same intense, almost hateful glare projected at one another.

"I … don't … deny that you made me …... _tap out_ …", Matt regrettably said through gritted teeth. "There's absolutely no doubting the fact that you are one of the most skilled female wrestlers in this company. But one thing you forget to mention is that, in each of those circumstances, I _allowed_ you to put me in those holds. You couldn't even _think_ to make me tap out in a match."

Camilla's head cocked to the side, and Matt knew what idea had popped into her head.

"Oh yeah, huh? Then give me a chance. Give me a chance to make you tap out in a match … right here … in this ring … against you … _tonight_." As Camilla progressed in her sentence, the volume of the crowed progressively got louder. Matt didn't budge or take his eyes off Camilla's. He envisioned the red devil on his right shoulder and the white angel on his left. But before either could say anything …

_*glass shatters*_

The General Manager came out onto the stage, and Matt spun around to face him. Beating Austin to the punch, Matt started off.

"Hold on there, Austin! I know what you're gonna do. But …"

"Do you really think I give a crap about what you have to say? The only thing I care about is that match. I want it. The crowd here wants it. So they're going to get it!"

"I **don't** hit women! I am not going to put my hands on her, even if she is the woman who cheated on me! You put me in that match and I won't move a damn muscle!"

"If you don't, Orton boy, I'll strip you and your brother of those tag team titles!"

Matt's heart sank to the bottom of his sneakers. Backstage, Randy's face started to steam up and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He grabbed his half of the titles and slung it over his shoulders. Matt's hands sunk down to the title belt around his own waist. Austin knew Matt's nature and knew exactly where to strike. Randy was already conveying thoughts of going along with the match. Matt turned around to face his ex-wife, who suddenly looked like the Cheshire cat.

"You better be happy", Camilla began, "that you don't have the Intercontinental title too, Matt. Otherwise, I think we would have a new Intercontinental Champion tonight." Camilla's theme music started to play as she walked out of the ring. Matt hung his arms over the top rope, his eyes staring at her in disbelief.

"_I never even got my question answered, and now I have to face her in a match?"_

"_Just go balls to the wall, man"_, came a new voice. Eric chimed in with his advice. _"She doesn't love you anymore. She may have at one point or another, but after she went overboard with the sex, she'll 'love' any douchebag who gives her a good time. Camilla's wrecked your heart over something she could have controlled. She didn't. You have to give her some sort of payback. What better way then to crush her in a match? Do you really think people will blame you for doing this?"_

"_Dude, I can't hit a woman. It's just not right. You know how big my dad was about that. I wouldn't dare."_

"_Matt … how many times have you found yourself depressed over this, huh? How many times have you found yourself angry? I know you, man. I know you've destroyed stuff at home because of your frustration over your breakup. I hear loud bangs and crashes every so often and I know its you feeling rage over this. Think about what your dad would say about this now, given the situation. Would he really want you to hold back when Camilla has cheated on you, destroyed your marriage, publicly humiliated you, and called you out in front of the whole world? And think about what will happen if you __**don't**__ do anything. Camilla might break you, you'll lose the tag titles, and your brother will KILL you."_

"_He's __**damn **__right about that"_, Randy chipped in.

"_The benefits outweigh the consequences, Matt."_

"_Well … looks like I don't have a choice now, do I?"_

_

* * *

_

Orton trudged backstage, conflicted as to what he was going to do in the ring tonight. It ran against _everything_ he had been taught growing up. To hit a woman was the antithesis of being a gentleman. On the other hand, what Eric had thought to Matt earlier was starting to make sense. In addition, while walking backstage, he could hear many of the fans shouting affirmation and encouragement to Matt's plight; several of them were women. Orton was about to turn the corner when he heard his name being called for.

"Gail Kim?", he blurted out as the figure came running towards him.

"Look, Orton, all of us backstage, even the girls that you've had problems with in the past, think that Camilla is the most despicable piece of trash this brand has seen in years. Let … her … have it."

She planted a small kiss on his cheek, give a smile, and walked away.

Back in the locker room, Eric was getting ready for his qualifying match with Goldberg. If he were to win, Eric would be added to a future championship match between Cena and Goldberg. After getting a small kiss from Amy and leaving the locker room, Barringer began to pump himself up for what could be one of the most intense matches of his life. After a moment of looking down at the gray concrete in front of him, his eyes floated up to see Dave Batista walking back to the locker room, a huge water bottle in his hands. Dave gave a momentary thumbs up to Eric as he walked by. Eric, however, wasn't totally convinced of the small show of encouragement. He had recognized a certain tell Batista would give off whenever he partially faking an emotion.

"Hold on, big guy", Eric said. Dave reluctantly stopped and turned to face the younger man. "I gotta be honest. I really enjoyed kicking you in the face last week. But I gotta ask you. Why?" Eric paused momentarily, expecting the bit of incendiary language to have its expected effect. Dave, however, delivered an unexpected response: he smirked.

"Well … I'm not perfect, as I'm sure you know. I've realized my problem is jealousy. Ya'll have learned to deal with it. As for me … I'm still trying to find a way. I asked you to do what you did last week because I felt like exploding at the sight of seeing Cena with that belt."

"You'll get it one day. Hell, I may still have to wait a while if I can't win this match. Goldberg's no pushover."

Dave chuckled, then slapped Eric on the back. "I'll get my belt when I'm ready. Now go out and break that bald-headed freak." Eric nodded and resumed walking towards the ramp. Batista let out a long sigh and continued back towards the locker room. Upon opening the door, he saw Matt Orton, dressed in his dark blue trunks. Matt was staring blankly at a brick wall in the corner of the room. Dave turned to Randy, who promptly shrugged.

"He won't take anymore advice from me or anyone else. He's dealing with himself right now. That's all I really know."

Batista cast one more glance over at Matt. His eyes were fixated on a spot about 3 feet from the floor. His fists were clenched, muscles taut all over his body, and his head was bobbing in rhythm like a metronome. Dave walked over toward him and sat down on the closest bench.

"You know, you and I have more in common than you might think." Matt didn't say anything in response. Usually Dave's booming voice easily caught Matt's attention, but Batista could tell Matt was in quite the trance. "Orton, you and I are divorced from wives that we truly loved. I know you're trying to psyche yourself up and all, but if you if ever want to talk about it, just tell me. I had to go to a shrink to cope with my divorce. I don't want you to have to internalize everything."

Matt unexpectedly turned to Dave. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah. Why not? It'll help you and me at the same time. Work off both of our problems."

Matt looked back to the wall, un-tensing his body. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"You know", Randy interjected. "I still think you should take Eric's advice. Your father would understand the situation, Matt."

"Both of you are right. But I'm doing what I'm going to do tonight because of my mother. If I had told her the situation, she would want to see that woman torn to shreds. When she saw Camilla for the first time, she didn't like her. I guess I know why now. If I win tonight, I learn who Camilla had an affair with. The fact that Camilla is a woman isn't going to stop me from doing all that I need to to win this match."

* * *

_- Can Eric earn himself another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship by beating Goldberg?_

_- Both Ortons have a load on their plate. Randy has to defend the Intercontinental title against Jeff Hardy while Matt places a lot on the line in a match against Camilla. Can the Ortons come out on top?_

_- The "pseudo-blind" date takes place later on that same week. John and Matt have to deal with some unexpected changes._

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	17. The 3rd Struggle

_It's amazing how one review can light a fire in you. Thanks a bunch! Here's the next chapter._

_- The boys in the back watch Eric's match against Goldberg. While Dave and John earnestly cheer on Eric, Matt and Randy discuss their upcoming matches against Camilla and Jeff Hardy._

_- Matt's match against Camilla is up first. Although he's convinced himself that he needs to do whatever he needs to do to win, Matt is still hesitant to use full force against his ex-wife._

_- In the aftermath of ex-husband vs. ex-wife, Batista attempts to make true on his offer to Matt._

* * *

Randy and Matt sat back in the corner of the room, allowing Dave and John ample space to move about in front of the monitor. John wanted Eric to have another chance at the World title and was vehemently cheering Eric on. Dave was doing the same, pacing back and forth in front of the TV and yelling at the top of his lungs. Batista wanted not only to see Eric in another title match as well, but also wanted to see Goldberg driven hard into the mat. Both men were fist pumping and moving around quite quickly, prompting the two brothers to move to their current position to avoid getting a fist pump to the face.

"_What do you plan to do about Hardy?", _thought Matt to Randy. John and Dave were loud enough to render this sort of communication as the only effective method of speaking.

"_He's nothing I can't handle. It'll be fine. Keep him grounded, focus on his lower body, hit an RKO, make the cover. Plain and simple. What you should be worried about is how you're gonna take Camilla down."_

Matt's eyebrows cast themselves up in frustration. _"To be honest, I really don't know. She's a submission person, just like I can be. She knows what moves I use and how to counter them. And if I get trapped in her Sharpshooter, I might as well be done for. You know how that's like."_

"_Don't remind me."_

A loud groan of celebratory exasperation filled the room. Both men cast their looks towards Dave and John, who let out a very loud sigh of relief after seeing Eric kick out of a spear from Goldberg.

"_She's going to do everything and anything possible to win that match, Matt. She knows your bag of tricks. You need to pull something new out of your ass and use that against her."_

"_Okay … but what? What can I possibly use against her without severely hurting her?"_

Randy audibly sighed. _"Dude, I thought we were over this. I thought you were going to do what you needed to do to win the match!"_

"_Well … yeah … but I'm not going to go all out on her like I did on … on … Jeff or Matt Hardy!"_

Randy glared at his brother as if he were wearing a dunce hat. _"Did you listen to anything I told you? She is going to do __**anything**__ to win the match. Matt, she wants to __**hurt**__ you! She's already cold-cocked you across the head with a pair of brass knuckles! If you don't take that same stance against her tonight, you'll end up being in a situation that you don't want to be in."_

"_Hold the phone just a second. Randy, it's not like she's coming at me with a knife or a gun."_

"Bullshit!"

Dave and John looked behind them after hearing Randy's exclamation. After a second or two, the pair realized what was going on and went back to watching the match.

"_Matt, it's __**exactly**__ like as if she's coming at you with a weapon like that. Every time we step in that ring, we put our well-being on the line. Every person in this company does that. Look what you did to Matt Hardy at SummerSlam. He's not going to be here for a very long time. Camilla is capable of doing the exact same thing. And if you let your guard down, she's going to take advantage of it no matter what her true intentions are!"_

Matt peered in his brother's eyes, slowly realizing that what Randy was thinking was the truth. The younger Orton put his head in his hands, and Randy thought Matt was going to start to cry.

"_Randy … just imagine what it would feel like if you had to defend yourself from Lilian, who wanted to break you in half just as badly as Camilla wants to do to me. How would __**you **__feel? What would __**you**__ do?"_

Matt didn't get a response for a while.

"_Yeah …"_, Matt continued, _"... that's how I feel right now. See how that complicates things? Look, thanks for the advice … its just that I'm in a hell of a spot right now. Camilla is fighting me to have a chance to win me back. That tells me one of two things: she's either batshit fucking insane or she loves me so much she'll hurt me to repair our relationship."_

"_To me, that tells me __**one **__thing: that's she's batshit fucking insane. If she wanted to repair your relationship, she would have seen a shrink. Her addiction to fucking everything she sees has warped her mind. Camilla wants to destroy you from the outside in. Don't tell me you're starting to see a possibility of you two getting back together."_

Matt's eyes widened a bit, surprised that his thoughts were creeping back around to the subject of reconciliation. What got him even more was Randy's insight about Camilla's intentions.

"_Matt, she's using your emotions to twist yourself into letting her back into your life; after she has her hands around your neck, she'll squeeze until you're blue in the face. Let her know that you've finally let go. You don't have to pulverize her. Just do enough to where she gets the message."_

"_Couldn't I get in legal trouble for this? I mean … if I end up seriously hurting her, she could sue me and the company, right?"_

"_Not to my knowledge. She was the one who requested the match, Matt. You've even indicated that you didn't want this in the first place. Camilla knows … or should know … the implications of a female going up against a male in a match. That wouldn't stand up well in my court if I were a judge. Not to mention the whole of the ladies' locker room and the whole of the WWE fan base is with you."_

_**CRASH!**_

The loud noise snapped Randy and Matt out of their conversation, and they looked towards John and Dave who were … no longer there. All that remained was the bent top half of a locker door on the cement floor.

"You know", Matt said out loud, "you gotta wonder how much Dave spends in paying for damaged locker rooms." The brothers shared a snicker before the monitor caught Randy's eye.

"Holy shit …"

Matt looked on to see his best friend bloodied and laid out on the canvas with Goldberg holding a steel chair in his hand. Now the brothers knew why John and Dave had disappeared; Cena and Batista rushed the ring and sprung an assault on Goldberg, who steadfastly held his ground. John deflected a couple of swings from the chair while Dave took aim from behind with a spear. Goldberg turned around to see Batista's shoulder collide with his stomach. With Goldberg floored, John took the opportunity and locked in the STFU while Dave and Amy, who had been at ringside the entire time, attended to Eric. Randy and Matt nodded to each other and sprung off to the ring themselves.

_**SMACK!**_

Matt barreled through the door first … only to meet a steel chair of his own. His momentum carried him forward, sending him falling face down on the concrete. Randy looked up to see a familiar face: Camilla. Her pearly whites gleamed from her wicked smile before Camilla dropped the chair and took off down the hall. Randy blazed down the hallway in pursuit, but turned around to attend to his brother, who had pulled himself up to a seated position against the wall.

"See you in the ring, Matt!", Camilla's voice rang out from down the hall before a string of cackles echoed against the walls.

Randy held out a hand to his brother to help him up while keeping his eyes fixated squarely on the disappearing Diva. When she turned a corner quite aways down the hall, Randy bent down and inspected the damage.

"No blood", Randy said, relieved. "You feelin' okay?"

"Yeah", Matt replied, his hand rubbing his forehead. "I'll be fine." He narrowed his eyes to the point to where he last saw Camilla and shook his head.

* * *

Lilian stood in the middle of the ring silently wishing she could find a way to slip Matt a pair of brass knuckles. Camilla's theme song started to play, and you could hear that a significant portion of the boos coming from the crowd were female. Lilian announced Camilla to the ring, who then immediately got in Lilian's face. The ref put himself in between the two women and Lilian quickly slipped out of the ring. Matt's music popped over the speakers and Orton ran down to the ring.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?", Matt yelled out. "You're in enough trouble with me. Just think of how Randy will hunt you down if you even _touch _her …"

_**SLAP!**_

The slap echoed in the arena despite the immense amount of people. The whole female population booed instantly, causing Camilla to look around and smile. Matt took the slap and focused back on his ex-wife.

"Your business is with _me_, not her. Camilla … you've gone crazy. Look at what you are doing to get me back! Really? Really? I wasn't going to hurt you, Camilla, but you've gone far too over the line for me to ignore it anymore."

Camilla caught Matt off guard and wrapped her hands around his neck, forcing him down to the ground. Squeezing Matt's throat and digging her nails into his neck, she said …

"You … you just don't understand. You …"

"No shit I don't!", Matt said through gasps of breath. It took both the ref and Matt himself to tear Camilla off. Matt felt around his neck and looked at his hand; Camilla had drawn blood. The ref was still holding Camilla back when Matt looked back up at her; that person wasn't the Camilla he remembered or fell in love with. Orton got to his feet and motioned for the ref to let go.

And then, the bell rang.

Camilla sprinted at Matt in a full-on tackle; Matt stepped aside, sending Camilla head first into the turnbuckle. She shook it off quickly before charging again. Matt barely dodged a second time, Camilla's nails scratching his right arm. Gritting his teeth, Matt rolled out of the ring to collect his thoughts. Camilla's glare seemed to shoot right through Matt's head, and she started to sprint again. Matt knew he had to act fast; Camilla had leapt over the top rope directly at him. Tired of dodging, Orton braced himself and caught his ex-wife in mid-air. He promptly threw her through the ropes and back into the ring.

"Kick her ass! Kick her ass! Kick her ass!"

Orton looked around to hear the overwhelmingly female chant fill the arena. Taking a deep breath, Matt slid back into the ring, only to meet a foot to the face. Camilla grabbed the top rope and used it as leverage to stomp away on Matt's visage. Using a strongarm push, Matt shoved Camilla down on her back momentarily. He got back on his feet, only to see Camilla charging at him again. She connected this time, sending the pair tumbling through the middle rope and crashing down to the mat below. Camilla didn't seem phased, and hurriedly locked in a Sharpshooter.

Matt resisted the urge to shriek out in pain; he still wanted to preserve whatever dignity he could. Although his back and abdominal area were compressed and stretched respectively, Orton grabbed the edge of the nearby ring steps and pulled himself up. With a bit of luck, Matt managed to push Camilla away with his legs and made it back into the ring. Camilla also made it in, only to have two arms wrap around her waist. Matt executed a German suplex and held it in a pinning position, wanting to end the match rather quickly.

"1, 2, …"

To his surprise, Camilla had the wherewithal to kick out. Matt rolled to his feet and noticed that Camilla was holding the back of her head; the German suplex had visibly taken its toll. She charged yet again, but Matt was able to withstand Camilla's tackle. She was obviously weaker, and, for a moment, Matt felt horrible about hurting Camilla. But another round of Camilla drawing blood with her nails forced Matt to push her down on her behind. To Matt's amazement, Camilla started to pick herself up. Another reckless charge, albeit a much slower one, and Matt picked up Camilla and put her in a fireman's carry on his back. There was a second of hesitation, but Matt executed a samoan drop. Camilla started coughing violently, and Matt felt another binge of remorse.

"_She's messing with your head!"_, Randy thought to him from backstage. _"End the match now! Use an RKO or an MKO! Do __**something**__!" _

Camilla was getting back on her feet, and the time was ripe to try for an MKO. Normally Matt would deliver a kick to the stomach to prep for his finishing move, but he decided to bypass it in this case. Orton put her head under his arm and grabbed her leg (**A/N**: In case you don't have a clear picture of what the MKO is, here's a YouTube link: .com/watch?v=chOeIUS8HVQ&feature=related). Another moment's hesitation, slightly longer than the last one, but Matt started the motion for the MKO. Camilla swung her body over Matt's shoulder and reversed the MKO much like Randy would. Matt turned around and got a kick to the stomach himself. Orton's head was driven into the canvas with a DDT, and Camilla wasted no time in positioning her ex-husband in the middle of the ring for a Sharpshooter. This time, there was nothing nearby to grab on to. Camilla piled on the pain by rearing back as far as she could, much farther than she had ever done in the past.

Through the intense distress, Matt could hear Eric and Randy thinking something to him, but all he could tell was that they were just yelling just as loud as Dave and John were during the previous match between Eric and Goldberg. The prospect of being forced to give Camilla another chance caused Matt to snap, driving Matt to power his way to the ropes despite Camilla pulling him back into the center of the ring. Camilla let the five count go to the absolute max before letting go, causing the ref to get in her face and caution of her being disqualified. Orton looked up and saw Camilla's view of him obscured by the ref for just a split second.

"_Do it! Do it now!"_

Randy's encouragement from backstage was all Matt needed. Matt pushed through the pain and readied himself. Just as the ref moved out of the way, Matt began the motions for an RKO. He caught Camilla around the neck and drove her face down into the canvas. An atomic bomb's worth of applause radiated throughout the arena, and Matt sat up against the ropes, looking at his ex-wife who lay motionless face down on the mat. Orton could feel his brother's frustration that he wasn't going immediately for the pin, but Matt didn't care. He closed his eyes and, for a brief moment, remembered many of the things that made this previous relationship memorable.

"_Get off your ass and pin the bitch!"_

Letting out a final sigh, Matt made the cover and obtained a three-count. Orton didn't wait for the ref to raise his hand in victory; instead, he rolled out the ring and started to trudge up the ramp.

"Matt! Matt! Aren't you forgetting something!"

Orton looked behind him at Lilian, who was almost chasing him up the ramp.

"She has to tell you! She has to tell you who she cheated on you with!"

The sudden realization of the real prize of the match filled Matt's gas tank back up to full. The disgust Matt had for his actions nearly evaporated instantly, and he did an about-face, running back into the ring. Lilian tossed a mic to Matt, who then rolled Camilla over on her back. He used his knee to pin her shoulder to the mat so she wouldn't be able to escape. Matt lowered his face to where the only thing separating his face from Camilla's was the end of the microphone.

"You knew the terms of the match going into it, Camilla. You lost. You're going to tell me who … the … hell … you … **slept****with**!"

Camilla's eyes were finally fluttering open and both ex-husband and ex-wife looked at each other directly in the eyes. Camilla soon made one of Matt's eyes black after using her free hand to slug Matt across the face. Lilian took it upon herself to restrain Camilla from doing it again; Matt was impressed with the surprising level of strength Lilian had. Despite having no free limbs, Camilla found another way to assault Matt. She spit directly in the fresh black eye, causing Matt to grunt a bit. He thought about retaliating somehow, but Lilian went ahead and took care of that for him; she reared back and slugged Camilla across her jaw with a strong right hand. Camilla's lip began showing a shade of red that wasn't lipstick. Her ferocity suddenly lessened, no longer resisting the combined weight of Matt and Lilian.

"You want to know?", Camilla spit out, some of the blood splatter flinging itself on Matt's face. "You really want to know? Because I'm thinking you _don't _want to know … _either_ of you."

Lilian and Matt looked up at each other for a second. They both realized what Camilla was inferring.

"You … **dare** … say it … you … **dare** … and you won't last another moment in this company", Lilian growled, eliciting an audible gasp from Matt. Randy did the same backstage; neither had seen this side of Lilian come to the surface before. Camilla's grin got even wider; she reveled in the pain and anger that she was causing to the Ortons.

"I lost the match", began Camilla, "so I have to tell the whole world who I had an affair with. And so I (Camilla's volume increased throughout the sentence) tell the entire WWE locker room and all the fans out there in the arena and in TV land that _**Randy Orton**_ railed me..."

Lilian cut Camilla off mid-sentence. Grabbing two handfuls of hair, Lilian started to bang Camilla's head against the canvas. Matt sat there dumbfounded; Randy's face was worth a thousand words. The younger Orton finally broke from his trance and pulled … _tore_ … Lilian off Camilla's now limp body.

"You _**bitch**_!", Lilian echoed over and over against as Matt struggled to contain her. The ref was checking on the downed former Women's champion while Lilian nearly escaped Matt's grasp a couple of times. Soon enough, Randy made his way down to the ring and grabbed his wife away from his brother. With Randy's arms around her, Lilian's anger quickly evaporated into the cool air of the arena. Randy soon found Lilian's head buried in his chest, his shirt becoming wet with her tears.

Matt took a long, inquisitive look at his brother before Randy caught wind of Matt's glare.

"_You … you don't actually __**believe**__ her, do you?"_

"_... no. I don't think so. You … you wouldn't, right? You didn't?"_

"_You have my word, Matt. She's lying. All she wants to do is fuck with you now. She'll never give you what you want. She fulfilled the stipulation of the match. Camilla doesn't have to answer to you about this anymore."_

Matt Orton took another look at his fallen ex-wife and didn't know what to express. He was frustrated … confused … angry … no one word could describe what his mind right now. Matt motioned to the curtain and started towards it. Randy ended the long hug with Lilian and kissed her on the forehead, allowing her to return to her station near the bell ringer. Randy caught up with his brother and patted him on the back.

"_If I could find the words to help you, I would say them."_

* * *

Randy and Matt passed by the trainer's office, despite the trainer trying to patch up the scratches all over Matt's body. Both men walked in silence towards their locker room.

"_You __**really**__ don't believe her, right?"_

"_Will you stop asking?"_, Matt thought back wearily. _"I've thought about it and you would never do something like that to me. More importantly, I don't think you would do that to Lilian. Now shut the hell up and let's just chill."_

"_Well, I can't just chill. I've got a match, remember? I'm gonna put Hardy away for good this time."_

Groaning in frustration, Matt's reminder of Randy's match was the last thing he wanted to hear; Orton wanted his brother by his side right now. "Go on then. Rip his damn head off for me."

Running ahead to get his belt, Randy could feel Matt's frustration. His little brother's emotions had been reduced to that of a little kid's. Randy couldn't quite describe it; it was as if Matt felt as if one of his family members had died. As Randy was leaving the room, Matt was entering. Matt looked up at his older brother and got a short hug and a pat on the back before Randy rushed off to the stage. A small smile appeared on Matt's face before he dropped his tag team title belt on the nearest bench and plopped himself down right beside it. His eyes floated down to the dreary colored concrete while John, Dave, Amy and Eric all looked on, not quite sure what to do. Everyone looked to Eric, but Barringer just shrugged.

"I don't need any of you to comfort me right now", Matt said rather bluntly, confusing everyone in the room. "I need my brother."

"Matt …", Eric began.

"Have you ever had a moment where you were so sad and depressed that you just needed to be in the presence of a family member? I'm in one of those moments right now."

"But", Eric continued, "we're family. All of us."

"I'm closest to Randy. I need _him_ right now." After another few moments, Matt took out a pair of boxerbriefs, a pair of windpants, and a muscle shirt and headed to the showers.

"That man's emotions are as fragile as a pane of glass", Eric commented. Most everyone nodded in agreement. Batista got up himself and walked down the short hall to the showers, stopping at the closed curtain where Matt was washing.

"Sucks, doesn't it?", Dave asked, hearing the sound of the water hitting the tile floor. "The moment when I realized that the relationship between me and my ex-wife was truly over nearly crippled me, Orton. You feel like a part of you has been ripped from your insides. And what's worse is that you feel like it could never be replaced."

Dave stopped and waited for a response, but got nothing in reply.

"Look, Orton. Depression like this isn't going to help. You gotta go out and live. Go do things. Go lift. Hell, go on that date that you're supposed to have tomorrow. You _can_ replace what you lost tonight. Memories from the things you go out and do will refill that spot inside you."

Another pause. Still no response.

"That's how _I_ dealt with it during my divorce."

Batista didn't wait for a response this time. He stepped back out into the hallway, where, to his surprise, Randy was back in the locker room.

"You didn't take long", commented Dave. "Was it _that _easy?"

"It was, actually. You should have seen that pathetic piece of crap out there. He couldn't even stand up straight. Hardy was wobbling down the ramp, wobbling in the ring … Jeff was in _no_ condition to compete. As I was walking back up to the curtain, Austin came down and started giving Hardy a piece of his mind. I didn't stay around to hear what he said, but Stone Cold was _pissed_. Anyway, how's Matt?"

"Fine."

A fully clothed Matt stepped out of the hallway leading to the showers, hair still soaking wet. The younger Orton gave a barely noticeable nod over to Batista, who returned the favor, then sat down next to his brother. Randy put his arm around Matt and pat him on the back; Matt's smile halfway returned to his visage.

"Just wait until I tell you what happened in my match …", Randy said.

* * *

_- Batista's effort has given Matt the willpower to continue on. Even though he's visited hell and back with his ex-wife, Orton has to endure a blind date. _

_- With Jeff Hardy out of the picture, Randy and Matt have a title defense against Edge and Christian. The level of hostility between the two teams is nowhere near the level of previous rivals. Will this make for an honorable and exciting match?_

_Let me know what you think!_

___SuspiciousInitials_


	18. On a Whim

_Chapter 18 is here! First, if you want to know about ideas I am throwing around for the story along with other wrestling and random discussion, follow me on Twitter at SuspInitials. _

_On a side note, anyone think the current WWE writing has gone to hell? I've almost totally lost interest in the storylines. And Orton got drafted to Smackdown conveniently enough for me to see him when the WWE comes to my hometown on May 17th. But I digress..._

_- After waking from a dream, Matt cannot go back to sleep. He tries to find something to keep himself occupied and is pleasantly surprised to find someone with a similar problem. _

_- The blind date takes place, and Matt is quite taken aback by who Gail Kim has picked for him._

_- Edge and Christian finally get their proper shot at Randy and Matt's World Tag Team Championships. Will the Ortons be able to defend their newly acquired titles against one of the most reputable teams in the WWE?_

_On a side note, I'm trying something different this chapter. I'm going to have certain parts in first person, denoted by a little note on who is narrating._

* * *

Matt's shoulder felt like it was being ripped off of his arm. He could feel a searing heat deep in his upper arm; the pain limited his thinking, but Orton was fairly certain his shoulder had been dislocated. Looking up, Matt could see a large number of men crowded around someone on the floor, stomping away at some poor unfortunate soul. From the cries of anguish, Matt could tell that Randy was their victim. The pain in his arm would paralyze any regular man, but, with his brother in severe danger, Orton needed to find a quick and brutal way to pop his shoulder back into place. Through his blurred vision, Matt spotted what looked like some sort of a handle. With his one good arm, Orton propped himself up and threw his bad arm to grab the handle. The sudden jolt caused Matt to screech in pain, drawing the attention of a few of the men attacking Randy. Without thinking about the consequences, Matt gripped the handle tightly enough and threw his whole body forward. A slight 'pop' came from his shoulder, and the searing pain in his arm was now lessened to just a dull ache.

Orton threw himself into the first person he laid his eyes on; their proximity didn't allow for any fancy plan to be implemented. Matt's attack was effective on that one person, but the other two men who had Matt's attention pulled Orton off and up against the wall. Matt's head bounced against the wall quite hard, leaving Orton crumpled on the floor with his head reeling from the impact. Randy wasn't making any more sounds from what Matt could hear, and his heart lodged itself firmly in Matt's throat. The mystery men split up into equal groups and continued their assault on both of the Ortons. Just enough of Randy was visible for Matt to see a large volume of blood dripping off of Randy's face. Matt was defenseless as the impact from being thrown against the wall prevented him from retaliating. One swift punch and Matt could feel the warm flow of blood coming down his nose and onto his chest. Groggy, Matt looked up to see his attackers; he couldn't discern their physical features, but they all had something in common. Everyone was wearing black and yellow armbands and shirts with some sort of symbol in the middle. All Matt was able to tell was that the symbol was a letter before a foot stomped down on his face, knocking him out cold.

* * *

**Matt's POV**

Another damn freaky dream. I hate these stupid things. It all feels so real and then I wake up. The last one wasn't so bad. For some reason, I enjoyed watching Randy point at whatever it was in the rafters. This one? My shoulder felt like it had just been popped back into its socket, several parts of my body felt bruised, and I was covered in sweat. I threw the covers off and grabbed a fresh pair of boxerbriefs; I didn't mind being sweaty, but being covered in the stuff at 2:30 in the morning wasn't the best feeling.

I carefully walked down the hall towards the staircase to use the shower downstairs, not wanting to wake up Randy or Lilian; the shower upstairs would create enough ruckus to wake up both of them. I know it takes a lot to wake Randy up, but whenever _I_ make the sound, Randy bolts out of bed to kick my ass like a shark hunts something down after smelling a drop of their blood.

I reached the top of the stairs and saw that the TV in the living room was on; John was flipping through the channels. He heard me coming down the stairs and looked over towards me, but put his gaze back on the TV.

"_2:30 in the morning and he's up watching TV? He's got something on his mind."_

I wanted to go over there and talk to him, but you don't know how much this 'covered in sweat' feeling bugs the hell out of me. I hurried to the shower and gave myself a short rinse. I dried myself off, put my boxerbriefs on, and stepped back out in the living room. I plopped myself down next to John and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Nothing good on?" I wanted to start slow. Whenever John and I had these talks, I found it most effective to let him do the talking instead of me trying to poke and prod him with questions.

"Nah. Can't sleep. Got a lot on my mind."

"Like …?"

"Well … this Goldberg dude. I mean, the dude's a friggin' monster. And I'm just trying to psyche myself up for this match coming up soon. Austin hasn't said when it would be and that's what's keeping me awake at night. If I knew when the match was, I could better prepare myself for it. I'm not used to stuff being sprung on me out of the blue."

See? I told you. I also found it funny that he left Eric out.

"So … anxiety, right?"

"I guess if you want to call it that, yeah. Anxiety."

I nodded my head in understanding. I wanted to poke fun at him a little for worrying, but I decided against it. Pushing John's buttons at a time like this wouldn't have been a good idea. "Well … we should head to the gym room and whack on the punching bag some. Get rid of some of that stress."

John took a deep breath and looked down at the remote control in his hand. I didn't know what was going on in his head. I mean, of course I couldn't _read _him like I could Randy or Eric, but it was always really difficult to read John's emotions just by looking at him. John didn't move for a bit, and I resigned myself to sitting back and watching TV with him. About fifteen minutes had passed.

"Alright. Let's go."

"Go what?", I asked. I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. The dead of the night and the inane cartoons John was watching had completely erased my memory.

"Head to the gym and slug that punching bag around. I think we both could use it."

I admit I was a bit staggered at John's suggestion. Without objection, I followed him. He moved a little bit faster than I anticipated, and before I knew it, he was nearly running to the room. John didn't even bother to put on the boxing gloves Randy and I had purchased the other day; he nearly dove at the punching bag and starting smashing the thing with heavy lefts and rights. I could see the veins wanting to burst out from beneath his skin. The punching bag almost looked like it was begging John to stop his all-out attack. I started to make the motion to pull him away from the bag, but Cena stopped himself right at that moment. He nearly ripped off the black wife-beater he was wearing and threw it against the wall before sitting down on a nearby flat bench.

"Your turn", he muttered quietly without even looking up at me.

"Um … should I be worried about you man? You looked like Batista there for a second."

I could hear him chuckle, and I chuckled back uneasily, not sure what else to say.

"We all have our moments. I was just having mine."

I didn't want to push it any farther. "Fair enough." The orange gloves I bought fit snugly over my hands, and I did my best to match the raw intensity that John just put on.

"Thanks for putting up with all the shit I put you through."

John's unexpected apology made me stop. I turned around to see him staring blankly at the wall.

"Sorry", he said, looking at me this time. "When I get anxious, I tend to think about all the negative things I've done. It's like Batista said. 'We all have problems.' or something like that. I dealing with mine."

I somehow knew what he was talking about. There's a feeling in the pit of your stomach that never goes away. You can push it back down, but it will always make itself resurface every once in a while. What is important is how to keep it under control. What John and I talked about that morning made me believe that he was starting to learn how to keep his feeling under control. It made me recognize the importance of keeping my own bad feelings on a leash.

* * *

**Randy's POV**

I don't know what those two were doing down there, but I swore to myself that I would bash Matt's head in before the day was out. After all, he needed to look good for this date we were all going on.

Oh, and before I get started, I just have to say something. For a group this big, you go a bar or a club late at night and go dancing. You have some drinks, get buzzed, smashed, whatever … then hit the floor and go wild for the rest of the night!

**YOU DO NOT GO TO A MINIATURE GOLF COURSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON!**

…

Sorry. I got a little out of hand there. If Lilian found out that I said that, I would be sleeping on the couch with Cena. She suggested minigolf and I had no power to stop it with Amy in agreement. Lilian always knows how to manipulate me.

Anyway.

Matt's little ruckus down in the gym woke me up several times during the morning. Strike one. Then, Lilian made me wake up about 3 hours earlier than I usually do on a day off. Strike two. Then she told me what we were going to do for the day. Strike three.

Fuck. This was going to be a bad day. Whatever. Let's get this over with.

Amy went to go pick up Gail and whoever the hell Matt was going to be with about an hour before we left. There was this place about ten minutes away that Lilian liked, apparently.

Miniature … **fucking **… golf …

Oh, I made sure I fulfilled my little oath I made in the middle of the night. When the little dweeb was playing his PlayStation, I crept up behind him and put him straight to sleep. Made him lose whatever battle he was fighting. I still can't get over how he plays games with Disney characters in them. Sometimes I ask myself if I'm truly related to him.

As you can see, I'm kinda of scatterbrained whenever I'm pissed off. Let me get to the juicy part.

The chick that Gail had picked for Matt was actually really cute. Matt seemed to think the same thing. I'm actually kinda surprised he took to her so well given all the shit Camilla's put him through lately. Her name was Sara, and by the way she talked, she was Matt's number one fan. I could tell he was a little freaked out by what she knew about him. Hell, she knew some things that even _I _didn't know about Matt. He didn't let that stop him from talking with her. Every time Matt and Sara weren't putting, they were talking with each other. Matt went so far as to get up right behind her and "assist" her with her aim. You know, that cheesy thing you see in movies where the guy's doing this to get in her pants.

Normally, Matt's really competitive. Especially against me. John & Gail and Eric & Amy went off on their own group while me & Lil and Matt & Sara held back so they could get ahead a couple of holes. Me, I was taking my time, lining my shots up and actually playing the damn game. Matt … not so much. He was clearly trying to get Sara to open up and laugh. I tried to get into his thoughts, but Matt had his mind closed off.

Screw him.

It takes a lot to detract Matt from not wanting to beat me in a game. The little fucker didn't even make a damn effort. All he wanted to do was butter up to his girl.

I guess that's fine. I mean, its what he needs right now. Anything to get his mind off that bitch. He had a good time. Me … not really. But if Matt got more out of it then I did, fine. So be it.

Lilian made it up to me when we got home.

Matt, as far as I know, spent the rest of the afternoon with Sara, John and Gail in the living room playing some sort of board game. Then Matt took Sara up to his room and played video games all night.

Yeah, right. "Played video games".

Gail and Sara ended up spending the night. Gail and John were asleep on the fold-out bed in the living room and Matt and Sara were cuddled up next to each other in Matt's bed.

Don't look at me like that. I'm not a pervert. Matt left his door open and you can't miss seeing John when you come down the stairs. Matt told me that he invited Sara backstage next time she would be at a live event. She promptly accepted before Amy took Gail and Sara back to the airport.

* * *

Matt put the finishing touches on lacing up his boots for the match tonight against Edge & Christian. He and Randy decided to wear the gold tights to symbolize the gold on their waists. Orton took a long look at himself in the mirror, nursing his sore shoulder. Randy walked into the picture, and they looked identical.

"You sure we aren't twins?"

"If you weren't a shorty, I would say so."

Matt rolled his eyes before grabbing his tag title belt and throwing it over his shoulder. Eric, John, Amy and Dave all gave them well wishes before the brothers left for the ring. Matt could see that John was visibly better; Austin had announced that the triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship would take place at Survivor Series. In the mean time, Austin had planned a "Pick Your Poison" series. Goldberg would be choosing opponents for John and Eric tonight.

"So … shouldn't we be strategizing or something?", Matt asked, wiping the sweat on his hands on his tights. "You're rather calm right before a major title defense."

"Stuff like this comes naturally to us, remember?", Randy replied confidently. "I guess its just because its supposed to be this way. We have nothing to worry about."

Randy's confidence easily transferred over to Matt after that comment. With his brother's encouragement, Matt stepped up to gorilla position and wrapped his belt around his waist. Once "Burn In My Light" hit, the brothers posed to their fans and to the golden pyro firing behind them. Edge and Christian were already in the ring, and both of them stood firmly in a corner of the ring. Randy and Matt noticed their seriousness, but this didn't affect their outward appearance.

"_Our first real challenge."_

"_And the Hardys weren't?"_, thought Matt back to his brother. _"That was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. This is just a plain old match. How will this be harder?"_

"_I don't know. I just … feel … it."_

The younger brother thought about it for another second, but ultimately shrugged it off. Randy's odd feelings were rather common, but Randy's tone of voice this time was unsettling. The two had a short discussion and it was decided that Matt would start the match. Edge remained in the ring, and the two opponents glared holes in each other's eyes.

"_Matt? Look up. I was right."_

Matt peered up towards the lights and had to use his hand to cut the glare. Edge and Christian followed suit, and each man let out a little gasp. An all too familiar sight hung ominously above them. The four men looked around them and saw stagehands coming from backstage carrying ladders. More of them were pulling ladders from under the ring. Matt looked to his older brother with all too obvious conclusion. But before they could say anything to each other, a familiar face filled the TitanTron.

"I bet you boys are kinda surprised, huh?", Austin stated while sitting in his office, his feet propped up on his desk. "Our next pay-per-view is a while from now, so I figure I give these here fans something to feast their eyes on in the mean time! If you haven't figured it out by now, this tag title match is now a ladder match!"

Edge and Christian were smiling at each other, apparently gladdened at the change in environment. Randy and Matt, however, weren't smiling; both of them had charged the ring with Randy tackling Edge through the ropes and Matt dropkicking Christian off the apron. The stagehands that were hanging the championships up hurriedly dropped off the ladder and rolled out of the ring just as Matt was climbing up.

If Matt measured his blood pressure right now, it would have been enough to rip the blood pressure cuff right open. Orton was yanking the belts hard, but for some reason, they weren't coming off. Matt cursed outloud, the belts remaining firmly on the hook.

"_Did they glue these fucking things together?"_, Orton nearly screamed. He cursed once again, but for a different reason: the ladder was tilting. Matt looked down; it was apparent that Christian had pushed the ladder over despite Randy latching onto Christian's foot from outside the ring. The belts slipped out of Matt's hand, and Orton looked down to where he was going to land. With only a second to prepare himself, Matt realized that the crowd divider was going to be his landing pad.

Randy let out a bloodcurdling scream. The image of Matt Hardy falling onto the crowd divider at SummerSlam was way too similar. The ladder crashed onto the ropes, but without a separate impact from Matt. Orton had managed to reach over and grab the top rope; Matt's momentum caused him to lose his right-hand grip, sending his whole body into the steel ring post. The landing blew the wind out of Matt, causing him to let go of the top rope period and slamming him back first on the hard ground below.

The belts didn't matter anymore. Randy ran over to the place were Matt finally landed and inspected his little brother.

"_Matt!"_, he thought. _"MATT!"_, he repeated after not getting a response. Randy could vaguely hear what sounded like a ladder being moved around in the ring. He momentarily looked up to see Edge and Christian setting up a pair of ladders.

"Go! Go stop them! He's fine! Just go!"

The sound of the fans right next to him caught his attention because Randy recognized them. It was Michael, Adrian and Travis, Matt's rich friends who managed to attend every show. Randy looked at them and back down at Matt, whose eyelids were fluttering slightly.

"See? Go, Randy! Hurry!"

Edge and Christian were nearly at the top. The only thing Randy could do was to grab a nearby ladder and slide it into the ring, colliding with the legs of one side of the ladder. Christian's side of the ladder collapsed, and the ladder … imploded … on itself. Edge's hands slipped away from the belts as he saw the ladder crush his little brother. Edge himself rolled off of the ladder and into the corner relatively unscathed.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

The audience started that chant at the massive amount of bodily destruction only seconds into the match. Edge was staring at his unconscious, bleeding brother in the ring and Randy was frozen looking at his knocked out, bruised brother on the floor. The two older brothers' eyes met after a few seconds of paralyzing concern.

Both snapped.

Randy crawled into the ring, but was met with a round of vicious stomps to the back of the head form Edge. Orton rolled over only to receive stomps to the chest and neck. Despite the impacts, Randy found something within himself to grab Edge's foot and force him off balance. Edge fell flat on his back, and Randy had a few precious seconds to recover. A quick look at Christian saw him moving somewhat. Edge was nearly on his feet again. Randy rolled out of the ring to see Edge almost frothing at the mouth. The Canadian ran and launched himself over the top rope at Orton, who stood frozen, rooted to the spot.

A pair of hands shoved Randy out of the way.

Edge completely whiffed, sending himself rolling on the floor towards the ramp. Randy looked back to see his brother on his knees, nursing his lower back and midsection.

"_You're okay?"_

"_Of course I'm okay! Just got the wind knocked out of me! And … and my whole lower body aches … but I'm okay!"_

It was Randy's turn to return the favor. Christian was now on his feet and positioned himself to jump into Matt. Randy pushed his little brother out of the way, sending Christian careening into Edge, who was just getting back to his feet. Matt was recomposing himself, getting ready to launch another attack on the Canadian brothers. Randy, meanwhile, was looking for something under the ring. Edge and Christian were now back on their feet. Each of them had grabbed one end of a nearby ladder and attempted to clothesline Matt down with the ladder itself. Matt ducked under the weapon, turned around, and threw himself forward back over the ladder. Matt grabbed Christian's head and brought it down with him to the floor in an RKO.

Except that Christian was still holding the ladder. Christian's neck and Matt's arm was brought down on the edge of the ladder, and each of the men were writhing in pain on the ground. Edge walked right past the pair and pulled Randy up to his feet, only to get a kendo stick to the stomach. Randy slammed the object across Edge's back, leaving a searing red mark. Randy repeated the feat, leaving Edge's back a checkboard of red and tan. Matt, gripping his forearm, grabbed the ladder that he RKOed Christian on and jutted the front of the ladder into a recovering Edge's stomach.

"_Get a ladder ready in the middle of the ring. I've got this."_

Randy did a quick read on Matt's plans.

"_You sure you can pull it off? Your back …"_

"_I'll be fine! If I can't do all three of them, I can do at least one or two. Just go! Christian is down and so will Edge in a couple of seconds."_

"_You'll be down too!"_

"_But you'll be getting the belts! Stop worrying about me and __**go for the damn belts!**__"_

Randy hesitated, but agreed to the plan. Matt flattened the ladder and laid into Edge with a couple of well-placed kicks to the stomach to keep him down. Randy, meanwhile, started to load the tallest ladder into the ring. Matt put Edge in the powerbomb position and held three fingers up to the crowd. As he climbed up the ladder, Randy kept an eye on Matt, who had successfully completed the first powerbomb onto the ladder. Randy saw … and felt, to an extent … the pain Matt was in as he completed the second powerbomb. The ache worsened threefold as Matt executed the third powerbomb, and when Matt let go of Edge, Matt collapsed to his knees.

"_Are you o …"_

"_**For the last fucking time, stop worrying about me and get the damn belts!**__"_

Just to get it over with, Randy scampered to the top of the ladder and yanked hard on each of the belts, releasing them from the hook above the ring. Lilian announced them as the winners, and Randy was down by Matt's side as she finished talking.

"_I need a fucking chiropractor … __**fuck**__, this hurts."_

"_I'll get you to the damn trainer. He'll do something. I don't care what he has to do; he'll do something to make it better."_

"_You're … you're beginning to sound like my mother."_

"_Shut your hole and hurry up with me."_

Lilian eventually tiptoe over the mass wreckage of bodies and ladders to help Randy take Matt backstage. Once past the curtain, Randy and Lilian both looked up to see Camilla with a smirk and a devilish facade. Lilian returned with a death stare of her own before she and Randy arrived at the trainer's office. Matt had an ice pack on his lower back shortly after arriving. Lilian pulled a small pack of marshmallows from her bra and gave it to Matt, who was soon showing signs of pain relief.

"Since when do you keep stuff like that in there?", asked a curious Randy.

"Well, where else do you expect me to keep things? These dresses have no pockets!"

* * *

_Whoo! Sorry for posting this so late. I promised you'd get it this weekend and I delivered just in time … at least if you're in the central time zone. Anyway._

_- Next time, Matt gets his wish and goes to see the chiropractor. Randy goes with him and the two discuss the blind date from the previous week. _

_- Lilian has had enough of Camilla. How will Randy react when she does something about it?_

_- The brothers approach Stone Cold about his last minute decision to change last week's match to a ladder match._

_Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know how you think the first person parts work! And don't forget to follow me on Twitter at SuspInitials !_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	19. Pairs

_Thanks to captainbartholomew for the reviews and being my first follower on Twitter! I'm still trying to figure out the thing, so bear with me. Its hard to fit lots of thoughts into 140 characters._

_Anyway._

_- While waiting in for the chiropractor, Randy has to deal with how he feels toward's Matt's new relationship. _

_- After finding out what Lilian has in store for Camilla, Randy tries to change Lilian's mind. _

_- Eric has his shot to pick opponents for Goldberg and Cena when he approaches the brothers._

* * *

**Randy's POV**

I really didn't want to take Matt to the damn chiropractor, but he insisted on it. I guess eating marshmallows can only heal him so much. On the way there, I wanted to joke with him. I really did. But seeing him in pain just sucked out all the fun of joking.

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so protective of the little bastard. Just pulling out of the driveway made him wince.

"You took some aspirin, right?"

"Yeah." He sounded **bad**. "Hasn't gotten any better."

I felt bad. _Really _bad. This happened every damn time he was injured, no matter how minor it was. Why do I turn from such a badass to a damn wimp in times like this?

Fuck.

We got to the doc's office and sat down in the waiting room. There was this kid about eight or nine years old in the room who recognized us from TV. Matt looked pleased to spend some time with the kid talking about what the job was like while his father was getting examined. Took his mind off the pain in his back. Hell, the kid took my mind off of Matt's pain too.

Since when did I like kids?

A few more minutes passed, and the dad eventually came out. Turns out he was a big fan too. Not just a big fan. A **HUGE **fan. We posed for pictures and signed a couple of things. Come to think of it, it was kinda funny. Me and Matt were kinda weirded out, but it was something different. And we needed something different.

There were still other people in front of us in line, so me and the little man picked up a couple of magazines to read. There was only one issue of Muscle & Fitness … and, of course, _he_ got to it first.

"_Why do you even care?"_, he thought to me. _"You know the information in here is rubbish."_

"_So I don't look like a weirdo holding a Home & Garden magazine … fuckin' idiot."_

I threw mine back on the coffee table and leaned back in my chair. Normally, I would want to beat Matt's ass until he cried uncle. Now?

Not so much.

I hate this feeling. I want to rough him up a little … I'm sure he would have gotten a few shots of his own in … but he's hurt! I can't do anything without making it worse!

"_I like her."_

I looked over at him, then at the cute chick in the corner of the room.

"_Her? She's hot. Wish she wasn't blonde, though."_

Matt smacked me in the back of the head. I wanted to retaliate, but … well, you already know why.

"_Not her. Sara. From the other day."_

"_Really now? Why do you say that?"_

"_She's … she's just great. I mean, she was a little weird at first, but I got along with her really well. Sara isn't overtly sexual like Camilla was. She's level headed, sweet, easy on the eyes, and a gamer to boot! Tell me where you would find someone like that!"_

"_Uh … a nerd convention? I don't know."_

"_Are you calling me a nerd too?"_

"_I thought this was established already."_

Matt narrowed his eyes to me and I could tell I was getting under his skin. It was the best I could do to him given the situation.

"_Look …", _I began. _"... how much do you really like this chick? I mean, it's only been one date, right? You seem like you're already falling for her. I would be careful not to replace Camilla just for the sake of replacing her. I'm not saying that you could be happy, but really get to know her before you start developing strong feelings."_

"_Since when did you become the bevy of relationship advice?"_

"_I'm just looking out for you man. Come on. Don't say that kind of stuff. Just think this through. I feel the emotions you go through at night when you're trying to go to sleep. You're thinking about this all the time and this new girl comes along. You haven't spent 48 hours with her and she's suddenly your new …"_

"_Okay, okay. I get it. Don't get too attached too quickly. Whatever."_

Matt rolled his eyes and I wanted to slug him across the face for the stupid decisions he was going to make. My little brother was going to fall in love with this girl and then his heart was going to be stomped on whenever something happened that made him realize that …

Matt's cell phone was vibrating. He picked it up and starting talking to who I figured was Sara. Now it was time to roll my eyes.

Am I overprotective? Yes.

Is it a bad thing? I don't think so.

Is my "big brother" role turning into more than its supposed to be? Maybe. Don't blame me. I missed this kid for sixteen years. I think I have a right to be after what happened to him.

Haven't I said that a million times already? Damn, I'm redundant.

He talked for a long time, enough time for me to snatch the magazine from him. Now I didn't look like a complete dork. Oddly enough, he didn't seem like he was enjoying it. Matt's stare was actually kinda blank. He was looking down at the floor like a robot. Kinda scary.

Then I read him. Not good. Matt ended the phone call and put the phone away like nothing ever happened.

"_... don't even think about saying 'I told you so'. I'll knee you in the balls right here and now."_

The little twerp was devastated, although he wasn't showing it. I could feel it though, and it was the strongest emotion I've felt from him in a long time … ever since he found out what Camilla was doing behind his back. And he's been _really_ pissed off at things. _Really fucking _pissed off. _Really fucking incredibly_ … okay, you get the idea. To say that this was stronger than those feelings is saying something.

"_So who was that on the phone?"_, I asked.

"_Gail. I could hear Amy in the background too. She was really angry at Sara for doing what she did."_

"_Which was...?"_

Matt took a big sigh. Not something I wanted to hear.

"_Sara accidentally let it slip that she was trying to win a bet. Apparently some of her other friends thought it would be funny to see if they could get into my pants."_

"_Gail didn't know about this?"_

"_Nope. She was very apologetic, almost to the point to where she was crying. Gail sounded angry on top of everything."_

Nothing more was said until the doc came out and took Matt in.

"_Sorry"_, Matt thought as he walked in. _"I shouldn't have been so defensive."_

"_You're fine, man. Just go get better. We'll go hit the pool once you're done."_

"_Assuming the doc doesn't find anything wrong with me."_

"_That too."_

Matt closed the door behind him. Poor kid. He didn't need another emotional hit like this. But there's one thing I gotta give the little bastard …Matt's gone through a lot of this shit and he's managed to keep it together so far.

Little dude's a lot stronger than I am when it comes to this.

* * *

**Eric's POV**

Hot damn! Last week was a cinch. Goldberg put me up against Booker T for some reason, and I handed his ass to him like taking candy from a baby.

Yeah, I'm not good at these analogy things. Matt's much better.

I've got Amy by my side, my two best friends kicking ass in the tag team division, and I'm about to become the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion.

Life is good. DAMN good.

After we got to the arena, Austin called us up and said that it was my turn to pick some opponents for Goldberg and Cena. My thoughts first went to Randy and Matt. I know Randy can handle Goldberg and Matt's shown that he can take apart Cena like he was a tube of cookie dough.

Matt likes cookie dough. That's why I … ugh, never mind.

I wanted to ask them in person, but they ran off as soon as Dave parked the car. They like to race to the locker room. Normally, I would join them in a heartbeat, but I'm trying to convince Amy that I'm maturing as a person.

Luckily, she can't read my mind like the bros can.

Hell, maybe she's doing me a service. I could use a little maturity, right? Especially if I win the big gold belt soon. No more goofing off for me.

Okay, maybe a little.

We came up to the locker room door to see Randy and Matt already getting into it with each other. Matt had an arm wrapped around Randy's neck in a sleeper hold, and Randy was slamming Matt back into the wall to try to get him off. You know, stuff that's par for the course.

Despite Matt's protests, I peeled him off Randy's back. It was time to turn on serious mode.

"Dudes. Its my turn to pick tonight. And you know who I'm going to request."

"As long as I don't get Goldberg", they both echoed. I chuckled as they glared at each other, but I knew this was going to be a problem.

"Alright … well … you two settle this then. Non-violently. Or Lilian will have both of your heads on sharp wooden poles."

I knew what was coming. Not because I could their minds, but because this is what they usually did.

Rock, paper, scissors. Best two out of three.

Both of 'em made a fist and I could see their whole arms shaking. Either they were both really angry at each other, or they were scared. I'm sure it was the first one.

Matt won the first one with paper over rock. If Randy was anxious, he didn't show it. Then Randy won the second one, beating Matt's scissors with a rock.

Oh boy. The tiebreaker. They both started to sweat! Over a damn game of rock, paper, scissors.

What eggheads.

Randy won, of course. Matt always seems to lose. I could tell he really didn't want to face Goldberg, but he agreed to it anyway. And that's why he's my best friend. He'd do just about anything for me.

Randy went up against John first. Great match, but John seemed to have Randy's number every step of the way. Orton managed a desperate RKO when John slipped up just once, but it wasn't enough. Cena put him away with a well-timed FU.

Matt's match was going to be after the commercial break. I could tell he was nervous, but he didn't say or think anything to me. I felt bad. Kinda. I knew Matt was capable of ripping Goldberg apart; he just needed the right catalyst to get him started. Because once that "angry psycho" switch of his gets turned on, Matt's near impossible to stop.

I guess he gets it from being an Orton. Maybe they _do_ need anger management. Jeez.

I didn't want to leave Matt hanging, so I decided to accompany him to the ring. Do some scouting and maybe some backup should he need it after the match. Good idea, right?

Matt wasn't scared. I knew he wasn't just by looking at him. However, Matt wasn't his usual cocky self; his eyes were burning a hole in the stage waiting for Goldberg to come out. Then it came to me. Something to turn the "switch" on.

"_Maybe it was Goldberg that took Camilla away from you."_

I could have sworn his eyes turned blood red for a couple of seconds. Goldberg's music hit and Matt didn't wait for baldy to get down to the ring. Orton speared Goldberg down and let all the anger and rage come out of his fists. Baldy was fighting back, but Matt was matching him, blow for blow. I could feel Randy's surprise from backstage as they fought to the ring to officially start the match.

"_What the hell did you tell him?"_

"_Just gave him a little boost. Nothing more."_

The match was completely brutal. The crowd was really into it too, throwing all of their support against Baldy and with Matt. It was one of Matt's best matches against someone that wasn't me, John or Randy. Considering that Matt kicked out of a Spear and a Jackhammer, and _still _kept on ticking like nothing ever happened … Orton was a badass. Part of why I looked up to him in high school.

People would give me a hard time for idolizing someone a class below me, but he just seemed to ooze leadership. He brought me out of one hell of a rut.

We won't go there.

Then I realized the ref was knocked down. Down and out. Goldberg was looking under the ring for something and Matt was sitting up in the corner.

Oh hell no.

I got up out of my chair and got my foot ready. I know I said I wouldn't use Shawn's move, but it was just too easy. Baldy looked up at just the right moment and the heel of my foot slammed into his face. The fans absolutely erupted in applause and I just reveled in the moment. Michael, Travis and Adrian were sitting in the front row and slapped me on the back a few times. Matt looked down from the ring and had a giant smirk on his face.

That felt good. It felt really damn good. No, seriously! You don't know how **awesome** it felt.

Baldy wasn't knocked out, but he was really out of it. The ref started to come to as well. I lifted Goldberg and rolled him back into the ring, where Matt was waiting, poised like a snake waiting to devour a small mouse. When Baldy finally got back up, Matt hit the MKO after a kick to the stomach and got the three-count. After Matt did a little celebratory Orton posing, I got into the ring and made Baldy pass out with a Camel Clutch.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?", I asked Matt. "You were all nervous!"

By then, he had realized what I had done to give him that extra 'umph'. He appreciated the gesture, but Randy nearly took my head off when we got back to the locker room. Said I shouldn't have reignited Matt's emotions about Camilla.

Whatever.

I just wanted to see Baldy lose so he could see how it feels when I snatch the World Heavyweight Championship out from under his nose. Youngest World Heavyweight Champion ever? Hell yeah!

* * *

Although Matt had won the match, the sheer brutality of it started to take its toll on him. With the adreanline rush subsiding, the pain started to cut into Matt's whole body, especially his lower back and right shoulder. Randy took him off to the trainers for some ice while Eric and the gang started to pack up for the ride back to the hotel.

"_I knew you should have taken the night off. Your back hasn't fully healed yet. You had no business..."_

"_Will you cut the crap, Randy? I just landed hard on that Jackhammer. That's it. My back was fine beforehand; the chiropractor saw to that."_

Randy let out a small grunt as they left, Matt with an ice pack wrapped around his back. When they returned to the locker room, only Lilian was left sitting on one of the benches. Randy's eyes flared up, and Matt knew what was coming.

"_You really gotta stop being so …"_

"Lil, why are you in here alone?", Randy blurted out, interrupting Matt's thought. "Camilla could have come in here and..."

"Babe", Lilian said firmly, stopping Randy in his tracks. It wasn't often that she took such a loud and demanding voice. "I can take care of myself. We've been through this before."

"Well … yeah, but not after what you did to her last week! She'll come after you and … and …"

"She's not going to come after me, Randy."

This confounded both the brothers, leaving Matt scratching his head and Randy with his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Camilla has been targeting Matt and only Matt. Knowing her, she'll continue that trend."

"But what if …"

"She doesn't view me as a threat. The only person she views as a threat is Matt, which is why she's only attacked him. She views Matt as a threat to her own well-being. And with her one-track mind right now, she can't handle that the only person that can save her is Matt. The two views conflict and the one with the stronger emotion dominates. Ever since she cheated on Matt, she's felt like this."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa … what?", Matt chimed in. "Where did you get all this info? How can you be so sure?"

Lilian chuckled and smiled like this was no big deal. "When have I ever been wrong?"

The brothers couldn't argue that point. In fact, she hadn't been wrong when it came to matters like this. Ever. Randy and Matt didn't have any comebacks.

"I think you two just need to calm down. Besides, she wasn't here at the arena for most of the day anyway. I made sure of that."

Randy's heartbeat went up about 35 beats per second. "Lil … what did you do?"

"Oh, nothing. Just some harmless payback for what she said last week. I slipped a rather strong laxative in her energy drink when she got here early this afternoon. She nearly ran out of the arena about ten minutes later."

Matt's grin stretched across his face and eventually turned into a belly-aching laugh. Randy promptly slugged Matt hard across the chin, knocking him down.

"Are you _**crazy?**_ What were you thinking? When she finds out …"

"That's the thing, Randy. She won't find out. How will she make the connection? I don't go in the catering area until after the event. Everyone knows that. I just employed some stealthly tactics, poured the powder in her glass, and got the hell out of there. Camilla has had troubles with the catering before. Its not beyond the imagination to assume that she will just place the blame on the catering company once again. You underestimate me, babe."

Again, the brothers didn't have any comebacks. Lilian seemed to have thought this through.

"I had my revenge both last week and this week. Physical last week and mental this week. I'm done. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm not. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think everyone else is waiting to go. I'll see you boys there."

Lilian passed Randy by with a short kiss on the cheek and a pat to Matt's back.

"How can she be so sure? How can she be so sure that Camilla won't go after her?", Randy exclaimed after the turned the corner and walked some ways down the hall.

"Besides me, she knew Camilla the best. I mean, she spent the most time with her whenever we weren't around. She knows. She just knows. And she's got a track record of being right. I mean … I trust her. It sounds damn weird, but I trust her."

"Is she psychic or something? Does she have some sort of power like we do? We've talked about this before. Is that why she knows everything?"

Matt could see Randy start to shake uncontrollably. He put both his hands on Randy's shoulders and shook him a bit, snapping Randy out of his trance. After a moment, both brothers grabbed their bags and started towards the others.

"Well, there's only one possible explanation for all of this", Matt calmly stated.

"Which is?"

"You, me, Eric and Lil have all been visited by aliens at one time or another in our lives and they implanted us with something that gave us superpowers. That _has _to be …"

_SMACK!_

Randy slapped Matt in the back of the head.

"Really, dude? _Really?_"

The brothers shared a short laugh before turning the last corner before the entrance to the parking garage. The laughing was cut short, however, when two men blocked the door.

Edge and Christian.

Randy and Matt matched glares with their opponents from last week. Christian had a bandage around the top of his head and Edge had a hand supporting his lower back. Matt thought for a bit that the two would attack, but was surprised when each man extended a hand.

"Congrats to you two", Edge muttered. "I guess you're not flukes after all."

Randy and Matt looked at each other, then carefully shook the hands of the other two brothers.

"You pushed us to our limits last week", Randy commented. "We had to …"

"We haven't even gotten close to pushing you two to your limit", interrupted Christian. There was a bit of aggression behind his voice, but no cockiness or hate. "Once we win another chance at those belts of yours, we _will_ push you over the limit."

(**A/N:** Haha. See what I did there?)

"We'll be ready."

Edge and Christian turned around and went through the double doors, heading to their own vehicle. Randy and Matt hurried to their own, trying to not leave their backs vulnerable to a sneak attack. The Ortons tossed their bags into the back of the car and quickly jumped in.

"Its about damn time!", exclaimed Dave. "I'm fuckin' hungry and you two keep me waiting? Do you _want_ me to work you to the bone when we get home?"

* * *

**Camilla's POV**

Remind me to sue catering at that damn arena. I've never had something like that happen to me before. Goddammit!

Now, where was I? Oh yeah.

Matt.

Where to start? Where to start?

_You let yourself go, Camilla. Matt loved you and you loved him. But when you gave into temptation, you lost what you treasured most._

**What? HA! You didn't lose Matt, Camilla. Matt lost you. Sex is just sex. Means nothing more. All those two were were pieces of meat. Two … pleasurable … pieces of meat. Just something to tie over your hunger until you got back to Matt. He overreacted.**

_Overreacted? He did everything right. You hurt him, Camilla. You hurt him …_

**HURT him? Matt should have taken it as a compliment! Other men lusting after his wife … Matt had the sexiest vixen on the whole roster as his plaything and gave it up. Now you can have your choice of who to love, Camilla. Anyone … any place … any time **…

* * *

_- Edge and Christian aren't the only teams putting themselves in the hunt for the World Tag Team Championships._

_- John has his chance to put his choice of opponents for Eric and Goldberg. John, of course, calls on the brothers for help._

_- After a week's absence, Camilla makes her presence known on Monday night once more. This time, she isn't alone._

_Done with this one! Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know how I'm doing by either leaving a review or Tweeting something to me at SuspInitials! _

_SuspiciousInitials_


	20. Substitute

_Hey, ya'll. Not to do some shameless plugging, but if you like watching a "Let's Play" (playing video games and commenting on them at the same time), head over to my Youtube channel. I have the username __SuspiciousInitials__. _

_- A early morning conversation has John asking Matt for a few favors._

_- Randy and Matt welcome the new challengers to their tag team titles._

_- Matt reacts in a violent way when Camilla and _ come to confront him._

* * *

**== Matt's POV ==**

Saying that I was sore the night after my match with Goldberg would have been an understatement. I woke up in my hotel room with nearly every muscle in my body crying out for help. I let out a loud grunt and woke John up, which I didn't mean to do. He helped me sit up and threw me a tube of IcyHot, which was all he had in his gym bag. Cena retreated back to his bed and threw himself under the covers.

Yeah, we're in separate beds. Did you think we shared a bed? You're _sick._

Anyway.

I felt bad. I mean, it was three in the morning. John was cranky when someone woke him up earlier than usual and I knew I was going to pay for it later on. Instead of going back to bed, II opted to stand in a warm shower, letting my body absorb the heat.

I didn't have a dream … or rather, I didn't have one of those dreams where I remember every damn detail. But, I did remember one thing: Camilla. With the shit Sara pulled lately, Camilla was all I could think about. I kept it hidden from Eric and Randy; I didn't want to hear more of the same from them concerning the subject. You would think that, by now, I would at least have a method of dealing with my emotions. At least, that's what Eric and Randy think.

To be true, I don't. It's just slowly eating away at me. And that's a bad thing.

I turned the shower off and stepped out, dripping wet, not really caring about the water splashing on the tile floor. I inspected my injuries in the mirror; there was a bruise forming on the right part of my lower back all the way around to my stomach. It didn't look bad then, but I knew that a few hours later, it would have been nasty. There was another small bruise on my right pec and what looked like a single scratch running down the left side of my body. It never had bled, but it was enough to leave a very visible mark.

Despite my appearance, the shower made the pain subside quite well. I put my boxers back on and stepped out to Cena's rhythmic snoring. I don't know how Gail puts up with him.

Then, John's cell phone started to ring. My heart leaped up into my throat; John would let that person have it, leaving their eardrums busted for a week. Believe me. I've accidentally done it before. Don't ask.

But surprisingly, John was amiable. In the dead quiet room, I heard the voice on the other end of the line: Gail. I could tell Cena was into her … because he didn't explode at her like he probably would at me when the conversation ended. I immediately thought of telling John what Randy told me about getting too attached too quickly; Gail and John had been talking together quite regularly. From what I could tell, Gail was sincere and really nice. I'm sure John saw something else in addition to keep the relationship strong.

I decided not to tell John. How could I have known how their relationship was going to end up? I couldn't. Hands off for me.

The warm water from the shower relaxed my soreness a bit, and I waddled over to my bed with no problems. I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes, ignoring John's chatter and trying to fall asleep. This was probably his way … one of his ways, as I found out later … of getting back at me for waking him up. About ten minutes later, I heard him put his phone down and exhaled. You could almost see the grin on his face; I knew he must have been pretty happy.

But not happy enough to keep him from shoving me off my bed.

"That's for waking me up. Bastard."

The soreness had come back, so I didn't even bother getting back up. I reached up and grabbed a pillow and yanked the blanket off the bed. The floor would have to do.

* * *

**== John's POV ==**

Ugh … Matt's little freak out woke me up and disrupted my beauty sleep. Gail made it better, but I ended up shoving homeboy off his bed. He ended up sleeping on the floor. Sorta felt bad.

Not really. I _really _needs my beauty sleep.

But Gail. Oh boy, Gail. What a girl.

Randy told me about what happened to Matt late last week. I feel bad for the dude, and it made me think about my girl. We just like talking to each other, that's all. She's pretty, interesting, athletic … just a really nice girl.

I'm finding myself falling for her. Ack.

I've gotta learn from Matt. Gotta learn. Stay away from the sex and don't get attached too quickly.

Matt and I decided to train together in a gym in Scottsdale, Arizona before the show Monday night. It was actually something I dug a lot. Reminded me of when Matt and I were tag champs. And it seemed like others got wind of us being there. Maybe they thought we were _still_ champs.

Orton was in the middle of a one-rep max attempt on the squat when I saw D-Von Dudley start walking towards us. Bubba Ray was right behind him. I knew they were cool; they had helped us out before when were in a tight spot. But they had a look on their face that meant all business. Matt made the rep (Proud of the guy … he's getting much better at this) and stood to face the duo. We all shook hands, but both Dudleys didn't take their eyes off him.

"You know we're coming after ya'll, right?", Bubba Ray sputtered. "You've defended against the Hardys and Edge & Christian in ladder matches. Gotta go for the trifecta, right? Hell, maybe Austin will make our match a ladder match."

"Wait a minute", Matt interrupted, "Since when did you know you'll be the number one contenders to me and my bro?"

"We don't. Although we're gonna send a message to Austin that we're the best ones for the job. We ran into those French bastards earlier … La Resistance, or some shit … and they're gunning for you too."

My turn.

"Hold on there, bucko. Before I went rogue, you and D-Von tried and you failed. We were the best tag team back then. What makes you think that you can beat Randy and Matt?"

Both of them looked at me like I was the biggest dunce in the room. And I guess I kinda was.

"You didn't just say that, did you?", D-Von shot back. "We're multiple time tag team champions. We've got years of hardcore match experience on them. We've got …"

Matt dropped the 45-pound plate he was unloading off the bar, making a sound like a gunshot ring throughout the place. "You know, Dudley, the Hardys told us that before our Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at SummerSlam. Randy and I ended up winning. Edge & Christian had that same attitude going into our match recently. We ended up winning. You're telling this to me right now that you have mountains of experience that we don't have. What do you think may happen when we finally have our match?"

Bingo. That's my dawg right there. I've taught him well in the art of the comeback. They didn't have a comeback, so we just all shook hands again. Matt's handshakes were a little more than firm though.

"Thanks for that", he said.

"No prob, bro. You make me proud in more ways than one."

Orton laughed and shook his head. "You know, Cena, sometimes I think you really truly believe that I'm your brother." We both shared a laugh and continued training. Matt started loading the bar for some lunges.

Did I mention that he was absolutely right?

* * *

**== Randy's POV ==**

Matt told me all about his little run in with the Dudleys at the gym while he was training with John. If I would have been there, they would have to clean themselves off the floor.

Okay. I get it. I'm overprotective of Matt. Get over it.

There. Now that that's out of the way...

Monday night came a little faster than I wanted it to. Matt, for some god awful reason, was deadset on waking me up early every damn morning that last week. I wanted to sleep in all of Monday morning and afternoon, but Lil let Matt into the room and he pushed me out of the damn bed.

I may have been tired, but I whooped his ass once I caught him down the hall. Put him to sleep and threw him in his own bed.

God, that felt good. It made the trip to the arena less painful even though I felt like falling asleep in the car.

… I just realized that I'm overprotective of Matt, yet I constantly kick his sorry little rear end. Whatever. Irony. I love it.

We were ready for anything that was going to be thrown at us. Since we were in Arizona, we wore our red tights with white lettering to match the Arizona Cardinals. I also got a kick out of watching Matt whine about since this was his least favorite color combination.

Austin made a match between Edge & Christian and the Dudleys, and we casually strolled down to ringside, set up some chairs, and did a little scouting. Edge was still hurting from the week before; Bubba Ray kept going for Edge's lower back, which I didn't mind in the least.

I didn't have a beef with Edge, but there was … _something _… about him. Something I didn't like. He rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't shake it. Whenever I was around him, I wanted to smash his face into the ground until it looked like ground beef.

Okay, maybe that's going a little too far. I think you get my point.

The match progress swimmingly … Did I just use that word? … with the Dudleys keeping the upper hand most of the time. Edge & Christian had their moments, but with the way things were going, it seemed like the Dudleys were toying around with them.

Then the Frenchies came out.

They came out onto the stage and made a mockery of us, the match, and everyone in the building. You know, the usual stuff. Matt and I looked at each other and everything just kinda happened at once. We gave Lil our belts and ran up the ramp, tackling both of them … hell, I don't even know their names. Just call them Frenchie #1 and Frenchie #2.

Matt took Frenchie #1 and shoved him off the stage. He landed on a couple of tables. Made everyone shout "Holy shit" over and over again.

Well, you know me. I had to outdo him.

Frenchie #2 managed to sneak in a couple of shots, but I gave him a swift kick to the crotch.

This ain't a match. Who the fuck cares?

But then I saw #2's head in _just_ the right position. Then I _knew_ what I needed to do to outdo Matt. Apparently, Matt did too. I felt him spin around and look at what I was about to do … then I did it.

The sound of my boot against #2's head echoed just right to where it spread all over the arena. It even caught the attention of the Dudleys, who looked dumbfounded at what I had just done.

It apparently cost them the match too. Christian rolled up D-Von and got the three-count. Matt and I looked at each other again and decided that we didn't want to leave Edge & Christian on top of the show before the commercial break. Matt picked up a couple of chairs, tossed me one, and we charged the ring.

Christian slipped out, but Bubba Ray and D-Von came right at us.

What a pair of dumbasses.

Matt jabbed the top of the chair into Bubba Ray's stomach and I brought mine down on D-Von's head. D-Von flopped down on the mat, but Bubba Ray was putting Matt through hell considering the amount of punishment he was taking.

Matt and I had another idea.

While he took care of Bubba Ray, I pulled a couple of tables out from under the ring.

Matt tried to warn me, but both Edge & Christian tackled me down as I was setting the tables up. I fought back tooth and nail, but two versus one isn't good odds.

"_Push them away! Here I come!"_

I don't know how Matt expected me to get myself free in time. Even with Bubba Ray on his ass, Matt managed to launch himself over the ropes and into the tangled mass of bodies that was me, Edge and Christian. Luckily, they took the brunt of the damage and I just fell against the barricade.

Hey, the damn thing's padded. It may look like it hurts, but it doesn't.

Only Bubba Ray was still on his feet, which really didn't set well with me. I shoved Edge's body off mine and got back up into the ring, going toe-to-toe with him as hard as I could. I could hear Matt slip back in and it all just happened at once … again.

You know how lightning strikes and flashes for just a second or two?

That was how long it took for me and Matt to bring Bubba Ray down with a double RKO.

We were hurting, but we were the only ones standing. All the fans were on their feet and cheering for me and the little sleep-interrupting bastard. Lil gave us our belts, I gave her a quick smooch, and we ended up Orton posing on the turnbuckle.

We were top stars. Motherfucking badasses. We were bigger than most of the people in the running for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bigger than John Cena. Bigger than Batista. Bigger than Goldberg. Bigger than Eric Barringer.

Don't tell Eric I said that.

Austin could throw anyone at us. We'd maul them down.

I'm an egotistical prick. Yeah, I know.

That was the highlight of my night that night. But Matt? Oh, it was just getting started for him.

* * *

**== Camilla's POV ==**

I loved raining on Matt's parade. They were posing on the turnbuckle when … _he_ … and I were standing at gorilla position, ready to interrupt whenever the hell we wanted to. I fibbed that I had messed around with Randy just to piss both of them off.

Pissed Lilian off unintentionally. But that was okay. I've always known that she had that sorta "animal" in her. She's not just the kind, angelic person that she puts on all the time.

But I'm getting off topic.

I still wasn't going to tell him who. I'd probably never tell him. Especially after what he did to me.

_He didn't do anything to you. You got too damn greedy when it came to sex. Why can't you realize that? Why can't you … _

**Why won't you shut your trap about this already? Matt wouldn't give enough to us, so we had to find it on our own.**

_So you admit it now! You admit that we just wanted to get laid! _

Don't listen to them. They're more of a nuisance than anything. More off topic stuff. Anyway, I had decided that we would come out to his music. Was I using him? Yes. He didn't know that. Apparently, he was into me and figured that he could get some. Eh. He looked too much like a druggy. Not my type. My man needs muscles. Arms, shoulders, pecs … you didn't see what I just did, but I licked my lips. I haven't had some of that in a while.

_Its only been a week!_

A week is a long time to me.

He was just a tool to piss off Matt. Well, _more_ than "piss off". Matt was probably going to have a couple of veins in his neck pop out. I gave the signal and we stepped out onto the stage after his music started to play. Matt hopped off of the turnbuckle with the biggest fucking grin on this face.

**He's **_**still**_** a sexy Greek god of a man. **

And then he saw me. Then he saw the little pawn I had brought with me. Orton was over the top rope faster than I had ever seen, and … for once … I was a little scared. Matt tackled him down and started laying right hand after right hand into the side of his face. I was a little scared, but this … _this_ … was **heaven**. I don't know what turns me on about this. I really don't.

**Of course you do! You get all hot and bothered when Matt acts like this. Matt looked like this in bed! This is the closest thing you can get to getting him in the sack again!**

Yeah. That's pretty much it.

* * *

Randy sat in the locker room, rocking back and forth between his left and right foot. The scene that just played out in front of him in the last fifteen minutes looked like it was the end of a bloody action movie. Matt had jumped over the top rope and charged at Jeff Hardy, who had appeared beside Camilla onstage. It all happened within a millisecond. Matt had immediately assumed the visually obvious; Jeff Hardy was the man whom Camilla cheated with. Camilla had jumped back and watched Matt lay fist after first into Jeff's face. Sweat and blood was flying everywhere; Matt had easily broken Jeff's nose with a firm right hand and a couple of cuts had opened up on Jeff's forehead. Randy was easily reminded of the time where Matt unknowingly destroyed Matt Hardy during a match.

Matt had stepped out of the shower in street clothes with his newly cleaned tights in his gym bag and sat down next to his brother. He unceremoniously dropped his gym bag next to the bench and let out a big, exasperated breath.

"Feel bad?", Randy asked out loud.

"Sorta. It felt good. Really fucking good. But … I mean … it was for nothing. I beat up the wrong guy. Camilla was just messing with my head."

"Shouldn't you have thought of that beforehand? I mean, that's what you would have told me to do."

Matt wanted to put his foot in Randy's mouth. But he was right. Incredibly dead-on.

"Well … don't feel too bad", Randy added. "We both have the same impulsive behavior and we can't control it most of the time. Just use it toward the matches we'll have with the Dudleys, Edge & Christian, and those damn Frenchies."

"Hell, you kicked the hell out of one of them at the top of the stage. Don't think they'll give us problems any time soon. And I could feel the cockiness just oozing out from ya after we cleaned house in the ring. The whole damn arena could feel it. Just _think_about how we'll draw the crowds once we go after the World Heavyweight belt."

"_Now_ you're talking my language, man! Which one of us goes for it first?"

"The better man, of course."

"How're we gonna find that out?", Randy said with a smirk on his face. "We already go back and forth with this Intercontinental belt."

"Well … yeah, we go back and forth with that belt. I figure we'll just go back and forth with the big gold belt the same way. We're at the top of the midcard both with the Intercontinental belt and the World Tag Team belts. We're two of the best singles wrestlers and the best tag team on this brand. Its _inevitable_ that both of us reach the main event. It doesn't matter whether you or me get there first, right? We'll be headlining WrestleMania … Orton vs. Orton! How does that sound! We'll cement the Orton legacy! Guaranteed Hall of Famers!"

Randy looked at his brother like he was a totally different person. "Where did this come from?""

"Even though it wasn't the right person, using someone for a punching bag really relieves some stress. I'm still on that adrenaline high. I just feel so _…_ connected _…_ with you. Like we have one mind or something."

"Oooh _…_ deep philosophical shit, eh?"

Matt made a face at his older brother and punched him on the shoulder. A few moments later, John walked into the locker room from getting a couple of water bottles from catering and had his eyes fixated on the brothers.

"Dude _…_ that's kinda creepy", Matt burst out after a few moments of awkwardness.

"Bros _…_ you know I need ya right now. Goldberg and Eric need opponents tonight."

"_You know its your turn for Baldy, right? I had him last week."_

A few moments passed after Randy rolled his eyes. _"Remind me to bash your head in when we get back to the hotel tonight."_

* * *

_- Randy vs. Goldberg and Matt vs. Eric. How will these go after Matt and Randy had their fun in the ring already?_

_- Has Camilla finally gone off the deep end?_

_- What exactly did John mean?_

_This wasn't my best chapter, I admit. Review and let me know how I'm doing!_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	21. Affection

_FINALLY, SUSPICIOUS INITIALS HAS COME BACK … TO … uh … where the hell are we?_

_Anyway, whew! Finally got this one done. Although its been lightyears since the last chapter, I have not abandoned this at all! I have ideas about this story bouncing around in my head. I also practically have had the outline of the third Double RKO in my head for ages now._

_I have a Twitter! Follow me at SuspInitials for updates about this story as well as other random ramblings I post._

_- Randy and Matt realize that Survivor Series is only three weeks away. They know that they will have a title defense against Edge and Christian … or at least that's what they expect._

_- Camilla issues another challenge. This one has more … __**severe **__… stipulations._

_- Eric has qualified himself for the World Championship match at Survivor Series. Austin lays a stipulation to him, however, that rattles his nerves. _

* * *

Tuesday morning proved to be a difficult time for Matt to get up. His match with Eric was as grueling as you could get. It went back and forth with submission after submission being applied by both men. The crowd was hot for the match, but Matt snapped at seeing Camilla come down to ringside. Eric had a Sharpshooter locked in on Matt and Orton was inching closer towards the ropes. Camilla made it to ringside just in time to grab the bottom rope and pull it away from her ex-husband. Eric felt Matt's rage shoot through the roof and let him go, allowing Matt to wriggle out and chase Camilla up the ramp. Luckily for Camilla, she managed to hide and watched as Matt tore the backstage area apart looking for her.

All this was in the back of Matt's mind as he stared up to the ceiling in his hotel room at eight o'clock in the morning. His roommate, John, had already woke up and headed off to the Gold's Gym. Not only had Matt lost the match via countout, he had never found Camilla. All that energy spent and all that anger released … but Matt found no satisfaction. Afterwards, he quickly grabbed his bags and walked to the hotel they were staying at down the street, still in full ring gear. Needless to say, Matt looked a bit odd walking outside. Definitely not one of his best nights.

Matt's cell phone began to ring. He knew it was one of the guys telling him to get his downstairs to either workout or eat. Randy had thought earlier that Matt was taking this whole situation better between the two of them. That wasn't entirely true. Matt had been holding in this emotion and closing his mind off to both Randy and Eric. Hate was bubbling inside Matt's persona and the time was coming to where he was going to boil over. The Sara incident … Camilla's consistent taunting … the stress of the job …

"_Matt!"_

The younger Orton sighed, realizing that he let his defenses down momentarily.

"_What the hell do you want, Randy?"_

"_Its almost 9:00. You've gotta come down here and do something or Dave's going to be on your ass. Hell, John's gonna be hard on you too since you two deadlift together."_

"_Randy … I'm just to the point to where I don't care anymore. I just don't care. Dave and John could rip my arms off and I wouldn't give a fuck. This shit is too much. Just too much, man."_

Randy didn't know what to say. He always prided himself on giving advice and verbal comfort to his younger brother. Needless to say, Randy didn't like being helpless like this.

"_Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know what the fuck to do either. Only you know what's going on; even though I can read your damn mind, I can't be in your shoes. Just come down here and lets get going to the gym. The more you focus on something else, the less you think about her."_

No response. Randy was sitting in the lobby in a muscle shirt and basketball shirts after John had left for the gym down the street. A short sigh escaped his lips before he got to his feet and headed over to the elevator. Pressing the button repeatedly, Randy stared at the gray steel doors in front of him trying to think of some other advice to say to Matt. The elevator slid open and Randy was pleasantly surprised to see his little brother in the elevator car. Gym bag in hand, Matt stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the glass front doors. Randy stayed at the elevator, his mouth partially wide open and feet rooted to the floor.

"Well ... the quicker we get to the gym, the less agitated John will be. What are you waiting for?"

Matt turned around and jogged out the front door with an older brother soon in hot pursuit. Randy finally caught up with Matt nearly halfway to the gym.

"So ... what caused the change of heart?"

"Let me ask you something first", Matt droned on as he jostled forward. Randy could tell Matt was still in a foul mood. "How did you deal with what happened with Jennifer?"

"_Really?"_, Randy thought to himself. _"Why bring this up now? The little fucker …"_ Randy took a second to think; jogging and doing emotional reflection at the same time wasn't something he was very skilled at. "I didn't … at least for the first few weeks."

"How is my situation any different?"

Randy didn't have a good response. Well … he _did_, but he didn't want to say Camilla wasn't dead. Other than that … minor … difference, Matt was pretty much spot on. Randy had moped around for a long time in mourning, anger, and vengeance. As a matter of fact, one could argue Matt had it even worse; Matt had Camilla's betrayal stuffed in his face, sometimes quite literally, week after week. Randy dealt with Jennifer's death in his own way, although it took quite some time. The circumstances might be different, but the situation was the same; Randy would just have to let Matt deal with it.

"Now do you see where I'm coming from?"

Randy knew Matt would be reading him all through that. He nodded, although not completely satisfied with the results of the talk. It was like a bacteria slowly devouring his insides that Matt wanted to tackle this issue without him. Randy began to wonder whether or not Matt was really taking the help from the rest of the gang seriously, especially Dave's.

"_I'm not ignoring everyone else, Randy. It helps. It really does. Sometimes, I just need my space. I need to figure things out myself. When I think a bunch, I get moody. You should know that. You get the same way when you think. Just let me brew in my own thoughts. I'm not angry or bitter. I'm just thinking."_

The conversation pretty much ended when they reached the gym. Although they saw John working at a power rack in the back corner, there was a rather large group of fans wanting autographs. This destroyed any notion of the scuffle, and the brothers were soon joking and kidding with each other and with the fans. A good twenty minutes elapsed before Randy and Matt joined John at the power rack.

"Are your eyes still flashing from all the cameras?", John joked as he and Randy set up the bar for Matt's deadlifting. Matt started some stretching, foam rolling, and warming up over at a separate station while Randy looked on with John.

"You've got that look on your face, Rand. That … 'I want to strangle Matt, but not really' face."

Randy managed a small chuckle. "Besides Matt, you're the person who knows the most about me. How'd you come up with something like that?"

"Wild guess", John stated with a small bit of sarcasm. "I can also tell you're down, Rand. What's goin' on?"

"You know I _hate_ it when you call me that."

"I know, Rand", John said with a smirk. Randy narrowed his eyes at the man, but shrugged it off with a small chuckle.

"Matt … he's … distancing himself from me. I don't like it."

"What do you mean?", John asked as they shoved the last 45-pound plates on the bar.

"I was trying to help him deal with Camilla, just like everyone else has been. This morning he was all silent and isolated and I thought he wouldn't come down to work out. All of a sudden like, he storms down the elevator and tells me he'd just like to be alone. It rubs me the wrong way."

"He's … just going through his thing, man. Let him be. I don't think he's intentionally driving you back. He had no one to talk to besides Eric, and Eric wasn't there 24/7 like you are now. This is how he deals with things sometimes. Don't take it like he's pushing you back."

Matt came back just a moment later. "What were you two talking about?"

There was an awkward silence. Randy wasn't immediately responding and John didn't know what he should tell Matt. Randy finally broke the silence.

"I was just arguing with John about how much of a weak punk you are", Randy said.

"... _fuck_ you, dude."

John was relatively relieved to see Matt and Randy start to exchange glances and start another round of insults and challenges to each other.

* * *

In the locker room at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, Matt sat with his brother and the gang, watching the monitor … or rather, someone on the monitor. Camilla's music opened the show, and she strolled down to the ring with her usual bravado and cockiness. Randy despised her. Lilian pitied her. Amy wanted to strangle her. Matt … well … he didn't really know what to think about her anymore.

"I … want … **more!**", Camilla exclaimed through a sound wall of jeers and boos from the live audience. "I want another shot! I want another shot at Matt's pathetic carcass!"

An audible sigh escaped Matt's lips. Amy shook her head and cracked her knuckles as in preparation for a beatdown. She leapt up and grabbed the Women's title, ready to give Camilla her final licking, but a hand grabbed her wrist. Fully expecting it to be Eric, Amy whipped around and was about to unleash a verbal tirade when she realized it was Matt holding her back. There was a silent moment between the two as they locked eyes, not sure what to say to each other.

Fainlly, Matt split the silence in two.

"Look … no matter how much you want to beat her down, and no matter how much you actually beat her down, the only one who can stop this is me."

"You can't be serious …", Amy said in retaliation, almost knowing that Matt would say this. "She needs to be put in her place. And that place is a mental asylum. But first, a pitstop by the hospital. Maybe a broken bone or two …"

"**No.**"

Matt's volume increase startled everyone. Orton looked like he was drilling holes in Amy's head with his eyes. His grip on Amy's wrist tightened a bit and she winced, sending Eric into protection mode.

"Hey!", Eric shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing!", he asked after shoving Matt away from her. "You were hurting her!"

"I'm sorry", he said, momentarily snapping back to his senses. "I … I just …"

"You still love her!"

"No. I don't", Matt snapped. "I know that for a fact. I just … I still respect what we had and I think … I _know_ she can get better. She's a sensible person. Something happened that made her snap and changed her personality. I don't love her anymore, but I still care about her as a human being."

"So … let me get this straight", Amy blurted out, obviously frustrated and confused. "You … you don't want to get back with her, but you want to help her get back to the way she was? How is that _not_ loving her?"

"I …" Matt was a bind. He had no comeback to that. Orton couldn't figure out a way around that question. "Okay … so … what … what if I do? Just because I still love Camilla doesn't necessarily mean I want to get back with her! I love her enough to recognize that her best position right now is to get away from me and get some help. What's the saying … I love her enough to let her go! I'm … I'm just trying to help her out the door, that's all."

Everyone took a little bit to sit back and comprehend Matt's outburst. Dave looked on silently, although Matt had the feeling he was satisfied with the direction Matt took. John and Randy had the same "Uh …" look on their face. Eric looked more angry than anything, but Amy seemed to be taking it well.

"Look, Matt …", Amy started, "... have you ever thought that she doesn't want your help? I mean, she's refused to get professional help and only dug herself deeper into her self-made hole! If you want to let her go, you need to either move out of the way or do it yourself. And by 'it', you know what that needs to be."

The two were almost having a staredown in the middle of the room. Randy could sense Matt didn't want to admit it, but he knew it needed to be done. On the monitor, Camilla was waiting for a response. Matt looked down at his portion of the tag team titles, then over to his brother. After a short while, Orton grabbed his belt and started walking towards the curtain.

"Burn In My Light" soon filled the arena, and the younger Orton came out to face his ex-wife one more time.

"You don't get, do you?", Matt asked. "Of course you don't. What am I saying? What happened in that fu … messed up head of yours, I'll never know. But what I _do_ know is this: you don't need to be here. You don't need to be in front of all these people. You need to be in a padded room in a tight straightjacket!" There was an assortment of cheers in agreement with Matt. "As a matter of fact, _that's_ my stipulation. If you want another match with me, you've got to be willing to go to rehab if you lose!"

Camilla didn't look phased, and the audience wasn't exactly looking for rehab as a punishment.

"And what do _I_ get if I win?"

Matt hadn't thought this through beforehand. But in order to get Camilla to accept the match, Matt knew he was going to offer something big. Something drastic.

"If you win … we'll go out on a date. Another first date. Start things over again."

"_Clever"_, he thought to himself. _"A win-win situation?"_

"_ARE YOU FUCKING __**INSANE**__?"_, came Randy shouting in his mind from backstage.

Matt shut off his mind to Randy. Matt was going to be in charge of how he dealt with this. Not Randy. Not Amy. Not anyone else other than himself.

"Have Austin draw up a contract", Camilla began, "and we have a deal, big man."

Matt cringed when he heard that name. He didn't exactly like hearing his nicknames from his sex life broadcast on national television.

* * *

"1, 2, 3!"

The crowd roared in applause as Eric got up from pinning Maven. The match was pretty quick, with Eric taking advantage of a literal slip up by Maven by applying the Camel Clutch. Goldberg, who was sitting at the commentary table, then got up and did the usual intimidation bit. Even though Goldberg was much taller than Eric, Barringer played the part of underdog quite well, not standing down at all. Disappointingly, at least to Eric, the showdown ended without incident, as Goldberg backed out and walked up the ramp.

Eric did the same after going around and giving out high fives to the crowd around the ring and up the ramp. After getting back from being checked out by the trainer, Eric headed back to the locker room. He didn't feel the anger radiating out from the brothers; Randy and Matt had argued a bit when Matt came back from the opening segment. Amy had even joined in on Randy's side, criticizing Matt even after he seemingly realized what needed to be done.

"Barringer!"

Austin's voice called out from a door Eric had just passed by.

"Get your Orton friend and get yourselves in my office, hear?"

"_I know he's from Victoria … but that southern accent comes through a whole lot more than I thought it would._ Yeah … sure. Give me a second. _Oh god … what did we do?"_

Barringer jogged double speed to the locker room, only to find Dave and John seemingly guarding Randy. Matt was nursing a bloody nose with a small towel. Eric put two and two together and sighed.

"You know, the Orton temper is gonna get you two into trouble one day."

"One day?", Dave replied. "You know this has happened more than once. We all need anger management classes or something. Either that or a weekend in fucking Cabo or something."

Matt gave a soft chuckle as did Randy. Just like that, the two brothers were on good terms again. Eric didn't mind this rapid change of friends to enemies to friends again that happened every so often, but he did start to wonder how this would affect them in the long run.

"Matt, Austin wants us. I figure its for you to sign the contract, but I don't know what he wants me for."

"Alright. Give me a second." Matt unwrapped a small bag of mini marshmallows and popped a few, and in a few moments the blood clotted. Orton got up, grabbed his belt, and headed out with Eric towards the GM's office.

"You really still think its a good idea, Matt?"

"If I win, Camilla gets help. If I lose, which I _won't_, I can try to talk to her out of the view of the cameras and everyone else. I can try to get her to change her mind."

"So between you and me … was all those words you said to Amy a big fat lie?"

"No. Well … not all of them. I don't think I can ever take Camilla back. But there's someone out there for her. It just happened to not be me. I want her to get better so she can find that person."

"You should have said that to her. Makes a hell of a lot more sense than what you said to her before."

"You should know by now that I can't gather my thoughts quickly like that."

Austin's voice was the next thing they heard. Matt had signed the contract after a quick read-over. If Matt won, Camilla would have to successfully complete a stint in a rehab clinic or risk losing her job. If Camilla won, Matt would have to take her out on a date, with the same job loss stipulation. The match had been made no disqualification, which Matt had no qualms with. He wanted the situation over with as quickly as possible.

"So … what did you want me in here for, Austin?"

"Well, son … I wanted to tell you something. When I put you and that Cena kid in the World Heavyweight title match at SummerSlam, I thought you were main event material."

"_Thought_ I was main event material?"

"Am I hearing an echo of myself? That's what I damn said, boy. You messed up that time and you messed up at Unforgiven. I'm giving you one more shot. If you can't win at Survivor Series in three weeks, you can't challenge for the belt as long as Cena or Goldberg has it. As for you, Orton, you're pulling double duty tonight. You and your brother are going up against the Dudleys. Lose, and they get added to your title defense at the pay-per-view."

Matt looked over at Eric, who was suddenly silent. Austin wasn't saying anything more and since their business was done, Orton ushered his best friend out of the room.

"Look, dude …", Matt started, "... don't think about what he said. Think about winning. Think about making Cena and Baldy tap out, right?" No response. "Eric! Dude! You gotta snap out of this!" Still no response. Matt knew Eric was blanking out. He had a reputation of doing his in high school whenever Eric was in a similar situation. He didn't want to do this, but Matt slapped Eric hard enough to make him stumble.

"Eric … if you want to take it out on me, do it."

"No. You have bigger fish to fry tonight. Just … just let me think about this."

* * *

_Oh boy. _

_- Ex-husband vs. ex-wife is up next, with some unusual stipulations not often seen in the WWE. _

_- Afterwards, the brothers defend their honor against hardcore legends. _

_I think I'm back in my groove now. Chapters won't be churned out like they were in the first story and at the beginning of the second one, but I should be publishing at least one chapter every week and a half or so._

_Again, follow me at SuspInitials if you want to keep tabs on ideas and status updates on my stories and other projects!_

_Please review! Thanks_

_SuspiciousInitials_


	22. Voices

_**HOLY CRAP, I'M NOT DEAD!**_

_Seriously though. I'm a full-fledged middle school teacher now and I hardly have time to do any of this. BUT! This whole time I've had this story in the back of my mind, constantly tooling and retooling what the rest of the second and even the whole of the third story will turn out to be._

_All I can ask is patience. Believe me. It'll be worth it._

_- First off, its a rematch of crossed lovers in a No Disqualification match. _

_- Austin doesn't let Matt have a break and immediately puts the tag team match against the Dudleys after his own singles match._

_- Whatever the outcomes of those two matches, Matt and Randy try to deal with it at the family home on Thursday afternoon._

* * *

Camilla had already made her entrance; she stood ready in the far corner of the ring, cracking her knuckles, neck, back, and whatever else she could crack. Matt, meanwhile, stood at the gorilla position, waiting for the audio guys in the back to play his music.

"_No more games"_, Matt said to himself. _"Amy's right. If I have to … __**hurt**__ … her to get her to get help, then so be it. It doesn't matter who has to do it. Is this still love? God, why the hell am I asking myself this right now?"_

"Burn In My Light" played for the second time that night, and Orton walked out to his theme, this time Orton posing to his pyro and to the delight of his fans. Randy had suggested he change into his blue trunks, as blue was Camilla's favorite color, just to stir the pot and see what happened. Reluctantly, Matt agreed, and the effect was immediately evident; Camilla's eyes were the size of balloons, and her fists were clenched and shaking. Instantly, Matt wanted to ask himself more questions about what Camilla's intentions or motivations were, but that would be useless at this point. Matt never took his eyes off Camilla as he climbed through the ropes; he thought that might make him look weak, but Camilla was a damn ticking time bomb. After Matt carefully readied himself, the two met face to face in the middle of the ring.

"I'm going to give you one last chance to walk out right now", Matt began. "Because if you don't, I won't hesitate to hurt you. You've seen what I've done to people, Camilla. I've broken Kane's knee. I snapped Matt Hardy's sternum. What do you _possibly _think I could to you?"

He didn't realize it at the time, but Matt's face became progressively more demonic as he went. Camilla shrunk back just a tiny bit, albeit still noticeable by Matt and the night's viewers. Rather than give a verbal response, Camilla struck out with her fist, except with the same infamous brass knuckles attached. Thankfully, Matt grabbed Camilla's wrist just in time to stop the blow, then landed a kick to the stomach with the sole of his foot, knocking Camilla down in a coughing fit.

Instantly, a pang of regret filled Matt upon seeing Camilla trying to catch her breath. Orton quickly pushed it out of his head, knowing the moment of hurt would eventually lead to something better over the long run. He quickly walked over and lifted Camilla to her feet by the shoulder. If Matt was going to get this over with, he needed to do it without thinking. Matt set up Camilla for an Irish Whip to the opposite corner and let loose, slinging his ex-wife hard across the ring. She ran chest first into the turnbuckle and fell to her knees, coughing even more violently than the first time. The regret forced itself back into Matt's head, and, for a moment, it seemed to have conquered the younger Orton. .

"_Don't fall for it!"_, his brother shouted. _"She's probably counting on you to …"_

The overwhelming pain as a result of Matt's momentary distraction confirmed Randy's suspicion. As Matt glanced towards the stage, Camilla managed to level a fist … the one with the brass knuckles on it … straight into Matt's crotch. Orton doubled over, and with his chin exposed, Camilla threw one more successful punch, knocking Matt on his side. With her ex-husband floundering in and out of consciousness, Camilla started to climb the turnbuckle. The ringside commentators pointed out Camilla should be going for the pin.

"_But since Camilla's clinically insane"_, Randy thought to himself. _"she doesn't think rationally at all. Get the hell up, Matt! __**GET UP!**__"_

Matt couldn't understand what was said to him, but the sheer volume and emotion behind his brother's thoughts acted like smelling salts. He looked over and saw what must have been Camilla on top of the turnbuckle. A moment's flash later and that same blur jumped off. Matt knew he could roll out of the way in time, so Orton did the only thing he could do.

The joints of two knees were lifted up and smacked Camilla straight in the chest yet again, causing her to roll out of the ring with what sounded like a strange combination of coughing, crying, and laughing. Matt ignored all that while using the nearby ropes to struggle up to his feet. With these few seconds, Orton knew he had to keep the offensive press going. Despite his blurry vision, Matt rolled out of the ring, barely able to keep himself on his feet. Camilla was still coughing up a storm, and Matt half-awkwardly rolled her into the ring, nearly sending himself into the nearby steel steps.

With his vision finally coming to a point, Matt looked down to the mat to where Camilla was still curled up in a ball. There were small red dots near her head.

"_Blood_ _…"_, he thought to himself.

It suddenly seemed like someone else was inside his head. It wasn't a voice like Randy or Eric. It was a set of emotions: anger, vengeance, revenge … _bloodlust_. Matt knew these emotions weren't his own, but they were seamlessly integrating themselves with Matt's emotions, causing him to think and react as such. The blood on the mat didn't seem like a big deal anymore. As a matter of fact, Matt now saw it as a sign of weakness. His … _prey_ … was weak, and all he had to do was deliver the final strike.

Orton backed up to the corner closest to himself. His eyes narrowed on the bobbing head in front of him. Small speckles of red were coming out of Camilla's mouth onto the mat, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was ending this. _Making the bitch pay_...

It had happened before he realized it. Just as the referee had stopped the match, Matt had charged and slammed his boot into the side of Camilla's head. Initially, the crowd had responded well; the women in the crowd were especially pleased. Its as if every female in the arena was vicariously stomping on their enemy.

But as time passed, Matt's original thoughts started taking control again. Camilla was lifeless on the mat, but everyone around him was cheering him on. He could feel Eric and Randy backstage sitting in an aura of approval, and he was sure Amy was sneering at the fallen as well. Everyone around him was smiling or cheering or clapping … but all Matt could do was look at what he had wrought in the middle of the ring. After a few seconds, Orton looked around at the crowd, the announcers, and the ringside staff. Unbelievably, only J.R. seemed to be the least bit disturbed by what had happened. Only when EMTs made it down to ringside did everyone shrink back at the severity of the moment.

Matt's eyes couldn't remove themselves from the scene, even as he walked up the ramp. He was just as surprised that the feeling of regret was as intense as the feeling of vindication. What jumped out at him most as that he wanted more. One kick to the head just wasn't going to do it. He wanted another … and another … _and another_ …

Orton stopped at the top of the ramp, eyes fixated on the activity in the ring. He could feel his whole body starting to take a step back down the ramp, but Matt yanked himself away and quickly jogged backstage. Matt didn't notice how everyone was reacting to him as he passed by, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to retreat to the safety of the locker room. As the distance between himself and the locker room shortened, Matt could feel the positivity emanating from Randy and Eric. In fact, it almost knocked him a few steps backward. Another strange feeling of disgust crept over him.

"_How can they be so … so … __**happy**__? I mean … she might be …"_

Orton took a moment to steel himself before making up the last few yards to the door. Upon opening it, Matt was nearly pulled into the room by Batista and his arm yanked into the air as a sign of triumph. Randy gave him a few congratulatory slaps on the chest while John fuddled with opening a bottle of god knows what. Albeit in street clothes, Eric looked like he had just stepped out of the shower with his hair still wet. Amy looked the same way … and Matt knew what they had been up to.

Matt had wanted to speak up. He had wanted to confront everyone about their reaction to what had just transpired. But Matt himself didn't know. It was like someone else was in control of his own body. Someone else moved his body back against the corner turnbuckle. Someone else had made him run forward. Someone else had kicked Camilla in the head.

But with everyone celebrating his win, Matt didn't have the energy to do much of anything. After the champagne bubbles stopped spewing everywhere, Orton collapsed down onto a nearby bench.

What bothered him the most was that no one seemed to notice that anything was wrong with him.

* * *

Matt was lucky that there was a commercial break in between his two matches. If he had just trudged out with his brother immediately afterward, there was a high probability the Dudleys ould have a title shot coming up. Not that it was going to matter anyway.

"You ok, bud?", Randy asked, finally noting a change in his little brother's demeanor as they walked towards the ring.

"Something happened out there. I wasn't myself. Its like I was being controlled. You … you didn't push yourself into my head, did you? I mean, I kicked Camilla in the head like you kicked Dave …"

"Whoa … whoa … whoa! You know I hate the bitch, but … but I wouldn't … I wouldn't do anything like that!"

"Would you?", Matt said almost lethargically. "You did it to Batista!"

Randy stopped abruptly and backhanded Matt across the chest, causing him to stop as well.

"Kicking the head off the man who tried to _**kill**_ my little brother … is _**nothing**_ … _**NOTHING**_ …"

"Alright!", Matt spit out, taken aback by Randy's sudden emotional charge. "I didn't know you still felt like that."

"Do you think I'll _ever_ get over it?", Randy said, taking the lead back to the curtain. "Besides … the point is that I didn't get into your head during the match, Matt. If I could control your body, I would have made you do all the lawn work last week." Randy managed to elicit a small smirk, which both amazed and frightened Matt. If his emotions could change so rapidly … and so _strongly_ …

That still didn't answer Matt's question, but he was willing to set it aside at the moment. With Randy's outburst, the upcoming tag match, and the ringing from Camilla's brass knuckle punch to the head, Orton needed to focus all his energies on just one of the above.

"Let me take the lead", Randy added as they stepped up to gorilla position. "I know your head's still aching. I'll give you some time to rest."

"Its not _that_ bad. I can hold my own still. Don't stay in there too long because of me."

"I'll be fine. Just bail me out when I need it, okay?"

Before Matt could say anything in retort, their music started to play. Matt struck the Orton pose for the second time that night, except with his brother by his side. He was telling a partial truth to Randy earlier … or a partial lie, depending on the way you look at it. His head wasn't ringing as bad as it was minutes beforehand, but Matt still found it hard to keep his focus and his balance. After the double Orton pose on the turnbuckle, Matt feigned interest in taking the first round to keep the Dudleys from thinking Matt was weak.

They stuck to Randy's plan and had Matt stay on the apron, at least for now. While Randy engaged in battle with D-Von, Matt couldn't keep his head in the game. Orton's thoughts kept wondering to who forced themselves into his mind during the match with Camilla. He hadn't asked Eric directly, but he expected the same response from Eric as he got from Randy, especially with Amy hovering over his shoulder.

"_Then … who the hell? Who the hell was that? __**What **__the hell was that?"_

"_**Matt!**__ Pay some __**fucking **__attention!"_, Randy screamed in thought.

Shocked out of his own wandering thoughts, Matt turned to see Randy and D-Von on the mat crawling to their respective corners, their hands extended out as far as they could reach. Disgusted with himself on how long he was out of the game, Matt immediately reached out as far as he could and tagged Randy. Luckily for him, the adrenaline in his body overpowered the fatigue and he was able to pull D-Von out of the way of Bubba Ray's reach. Feeding off the sudden power surge, Matt immediately threw D-Von overhead with a release German suplex. Orton pulled D-Von to the middle of the ring and immediately applied a Texas cloverleaf.

Already knowing that Bubba Ray would immediately run into the ring to break the hold, Matt let go prematurely and speared him down, taking the wind out of any offense Bubba Ray had in mind. Matt looked over to his brother and saw Randy still recovering lost stamina; Randy looking down at the mat, holding his lower chest and favoring his right shoulder.

"_You okay to finish this off?"_, Matt thought to his brother. _"We should double RKO D-Von now before Bubba Ray gets his wits back!"_

"_Yeah. Just give me a minute. I landed funny when D-Von gave me a spinebuster."_ Randy looked up at Matt momentarily. Matt saw the sudden jolt course through Randy's face to spin around and see both Dudleys recovered, upright, and setting up the 3D. Instead of walking straight into D-Von's set-up, Matt shoved D-Von back into Bubba Ray, knocking them both down like bowling pins.

"_Change of plans!"_, Matt thought to his brother. _"Tag me in!"_

Randy didn't need to ask what was going on. After his little brother leapt up on the turnbuckle, Randy slapped him on the back. He watched as Matt flew through the air and smacked D-Von across the chest with his Somersault Leg Drop. Bubba Ray had rolled out of the ring and was lost for the moment while D-Von was rolling around trying to recover his breath and his wits. Matt had retreated to his corner while Randy set D-Von up for the RKO. As D-Von crept up to his feet, the roar of the audience grew steadily louder and louder. Matt could feel the focus seeping out of his brother as Randy readied the snake bite, and was adding his own building anticipation to Randy's emotion. For a brief second, Matt's eyes wandered to the crowd. And for that brief second, Matt saw the fans in the front rows all pointing behind him. Orton spun around and …

_**WHACK!**_

Matt now knew where Bubba Ray had disappeared to. A chair was slammed into his face, causing the referee to ring the bell and Matt to crumple down hard to the floor outside the ring. Matt saw a blur slide into the ring above him and another loud _**WHACK!**_ over the sound of the crowd. Orton could feel his older brother's pain, both on the impact of the chair and on the impact to the mat. The blur of the lights, the crowd, and the ring ropes was slowly becoming more of a clear picture, and Matt drug himself over to the nearby steel steps to try to bring himself upwards.

But as he finally got to his knees, two more blurs ran down the ramp and into the ring. Looking up, Matt could see two men slugging it out with D-Von and Bubba Ray in the ring. Straining his eyes to focus, Matt saw Randy roll out of the ring with a small thud. While crawling over to Randy, Matt let out a small gasp when he finally realized who was helping them: Edge and Christian. The brothers helped each other up using the crowd divider and some generous fans, then trudged over to where Lillian was sitting. She didn't even have to ask, handing Randy her seat. The older Orton crawled back into the ring, shouted a warning to Edge, and smashed the chair into Bubba Ray's forehead. Randy did the same to Christian, who stepped out of the way for Randy to level D-Von.

Randy took a step back to one of the corners once both Dudleys were flat on their faces. Randy's face twitched, not from the impact of Bubba Ray's attack, but from the slow stirring of rage occurring within him. These two Dudleys needed to be punished. What right did they have to end the match like that? What right did they have to attack his little brother like that?

Before Randy knew it, Matt was on the apron, holding him back. Randy looked down and saw himself in position for the same kick to the head that put Batista and now Camilla out of commission. Randy's heart rate declined as Edge and Christian pushed the Dudleys out of the ring.

"_Sorry. I had a moment there. But you know …", _Randy thought, _"... that would have felt __**really**__ good."_

"_Look, we shouldn't make a habit of using that. Putting away people for a long time isn't something I want to do every week, Randy."_

"_Yeah. You're right. I just had a big brother moment. That's all."_

"_It's not a bad thing to have a big brother moment. Just tone it down. Kick them in the balls instead of the head. Just as effective and funny to boot."_

A small chuckle and a grin escaped Randy as he turned to his little brother. "How can you be thinking about humor at a time like this?", he said out loud over the noise of the crowd.

"Because I know how to calm you down."

Two figures at the top of the ramp caught Matt's attention, drawing both brothers' gazes forward. Bubba Ray and D-Von were both holding their heads in pain. Edge & Christian were hanging on the ropes, taunting both Dudleys to come back to the ring. Matt hopped through the ropes to join this with Randy bringing up the rear to do the same. After the Dudleys shrank back behind the curtain, both sets of brothers met in the middle of the ring. Tension was instantly created by the crowd, expecting the two sets of brothers to go at it. Edge was the one to break the ice and extend his hand to the Ortons. Christian smiled and emphatically did the same, apparently following on the actions of his older brother. Randy and Matt both glanced at each other, then at the crowd, seemingly as if asking them to shake hands or not. The Ortons let a few seconds go by … then accepted the handshake.

"Look …", Edge said after he let go of Matt's hand, " … that other night in the diner. I was just frustrated with …"

"You wanted your brother back", replied Matt. "That's understandable. I'm sure Randy would have been the same way if Jericho pulled me through hell."

Edge looked like he wanted to add something, but stopped and nodded his head in agreement. Edge and Christian ended up holding the arms of Randy and Matt in the air before Raw went to commercial.

* * *

Matt was sprawled across one of the lawn chairs next to the pool, his head still ringing from Monday night despite a small helping of marshmallows. All week, Orton tried to figure out what happened in the ring with his now hospitalized ex-wife. He didn't need to ask Eric since … well … Matt figured he was too busy with Amy to even think about what was going on out in the arena. No one else could get into his mind like that, so Matt was left with only two options.

Either Randy was lying … or those emotions that took control of Matt really _were _his own.

There was a glaring reason why Randy might be lying; it was no secret that Randy preferred a life with no Camilla in it at all. Matt had always thought the "blessing" that Randy gave him was just Randy being a big brother; Randy may have not agreed with what was going on, but he let it pass to keep Matt happy.

A cold shudder coursed through Matt's body, even in the middle of a hot summer afternoon.

"_No", _he said to himself. _"There would be no way he would do that to me. Taking control of me instead of talking to me about it face to face? Hell no. Randy's not a coward."_

Another shudder chilled Matt to the bone.

"_**I**__ must have done that. That must have been me the entire time. __**Fuck. **__If something like that happens again ..."_

Being outside didn't seem like a particularly good thing anymore. Matt suddenly wanted to lock himself in his room and not come out. If he couldn't control himself, Matt didn't want to be able to do something like that to others. He looked skyward at a small cloud formation and took a deep breath, looking for some sort of shape in order to clear his mind. While trying to classify a certain cloud as either a dog or a couch, the sound of the sliding door interrupted Matt's thought process.

"You know", Randy said out loud as he walked poolside, "you aren't meant to be an animal locked up in a cage. Maybe this was just your true nature coming out. The 'Orton blood' in you."

"You know that's just a bunch of bullcrap. I was raised by a different set of a parents in a different environment with a different set of values. I wouldn't act like that."

"Really? You never ever considered wrecking the shit out of someone you hated in high school?"

"Of course I did! I never actually went through with it though."

"But you _thought _about it. And not only did you think about it, you obsessively thought about it. You thought about slugging the hell out of the people who bullied you. And when you were _really_ angry, your little fucked up fantasies got even _more_ violent. And when …"

"**Okay!**", Matt yelped back, almost in pain. "Dude … I get your point."

"I'm right, though, aren't I?"

Matt remained silent. He looked back up to the clouds in the sky.

"I'll take that as a yes", Randy replied. He slapped a diet soda against Matt's chest and took a seat next to his little brother. "Don't be scared of it. Learn to use it. I did."

Matt shot his brother a raised eyebrow. "'Learn to use it'? I'm assuming you did that?"

"Yep. Not too long after the girl of my dreams went up in smoke, my emotions got the better of me. I lashed out at someone verbally and physically. Hurt them too. It eventually made me mess up a good sized part of my life. I have a brand on me that I'll never be able to shake off."

"You mean a tat or something?"

"No. I … I really did something I shouldn't have. Something I don't want to talk about much. But those who know about it hate me for it. That's something I'll live with for the rest of my life. Its part of what got me into wrestling. When Dad found out about it ..."

There was a long pause here. Matt took a long look at his brother's face, which seemed to be pushing at the emotional breaking point. Matt didn't push the issue and looked back up at the sky.

"... he might as well had forced me into training to become a pro wrestler. Said that if I couldn't learn discipline, he would have to teach me. And … here I am. I learned to focus that emotion into breaking my guilt. I wanted to prove to Dad that I could get shit done. It seemed like ages until I got Dad to smile and say he was proud of me."

"But that didn't fix everything, right?"

"No. I don't think that will ever fix it completely. The point … the point is Matt, I did a lot of stupid shit because I let my emotions control me. Wrestling helped me control things. Seeing all this shit happen to you … it caught me offguard. But seeing you take charge of things and us winning the tag titles … it helped me get ahold of myself again."

Another long pause.

"You know, if this really _is_ just inside us and we just let this second part of us take over, we're _really fucked up in the head!_ We need medication or something! Therapy! Shit …"

Randy managed a chuckle. "I thought about that. Didn't think it was necessary. Why cure it when you can use it? You're afraid of consequences when you shouldn't be. As long as you maintain control, you can control the consequences."

"Afraid of consequences?", Matt said to himself. "I … well … maybe, yeah."

"Your mom and dad were strict, right? Didn't let you go out and do much?"

"It wasn't exactly like that. They wanted to keep tabs on me at all times. It didn't help that I had to focus on school as if my dad were perched on my shoulder watching every move I made. I had the feeling that he'd slug me across the face if I didn't keep my grades up. After I told mom about my fear, she laughed. She said dad wouldn't ever do something like that. For some reason, I didn't believe her. So … yeah. Afraid of consequences. So you're my psychiatrist now?"

Another laugh from Randy, this time accompanied with an amused smile.

"So what do I need to do?", asked Matt. "What do I need to do to get my shit under control?"

"Hell if I know."

Matt threw his hands up in the air, sending the diet coke flying behind him. "Well _**that's**_ a big fucking help!"

"Bro, chill the hell out! Look … Dad helped me by making me train. Focused everything I had on wrestling. Since Dad's helping train others for the big time, maybe _I_ need to help you then. Put all of our energy into keeping our tag belts."

Matt took another long gaze at his brother, then shifted his eyes back up to the clouds.

"I can't promise anything", Randy added, "but give it time. You'll have it under your thumb in no time. Let's start by getting your ass in the gym. You like that shit. Its as good of a place to start as any."

Randy didn't expect his brother to look back at him. Randy was a bit surprised, however, to see Matt nod and walk to the house.

"_I'm going to go change. Meet you in the workout room."_

A small smile escaped Randy's face. He really wanted to help his brother out. After all, since Mom and Dad weren't there 90% of the time, Randy was basically all the real family Matt could depend on.

"_How long can I keep doing this?"_, Randy asked himself, shutting his thoughts off from his brothers. _"How long can I ignore my own dreams and focus on __**us**__? As long as it takes, right? Right?"_

* * *

_Okay. Finally! Hopefully I can get into the rhythm of writing even just a paragraph a night. It'll add up quickly and chapters will continue to come as a faster pace._

_- Survivor Series is two weeks away. Now that the match for the tag team titles is set in stone with just two teams participating, the friendly rivalry between the Ortons and Edge & Christian starts to develop._

_- Eric's got the same amount of time to mentally and physically prepare himself for what could be his last match for the World Heavyweight Championship for a long time._

_- Don't think that the General Manager has forgotten about the Intercontinental Championship!_

_Alright. Baby steps, right? I can do this … I can do this … I can do this. Please leave a review! Let me know people still care about this story!_

**_SuspiciousInitials_**


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